Melanie Amaro talks Elton John, ‘X Factor’ shake up, and Pepsi ad (Video)
When fan favorite Melanie Amaro was crowned the winner of the first season of the ‘X Factor’ she not only won a recording contract worth $5 million, she also received a starring role in a commercial for Pepsi that will air during the Super Bowl tomorrow.
Amaro was excited to be part of a commercial that was going to air during one of the biggest television events in history, but when she found out that she was going to be co-starring in the advertisement with music legend Elton John she couldn’t believe it. During a recent interview with Access Hollywood, Amaro couldn’t hold back her admiration for Elton when she described their first meeting. She said;
“When he first saw me, he was like, ‘Oh my God! It’s an honor to meet you!’ I was like, ‘Really?’ It’s an honor to meet you!’”
The ‘X Factor’ originated in the UK and was a huge hit in Britain, but the US version didn’t hold up quite as well as predicted by Simon Cowell, so when Elton told Melanie that the US version was a big success in the UK she was shocked. She said;
“He said to me in [the] UK, the U.S. version of ‘X Factor’ is more popular than the UK version, which kind of shocked me ‘cause that’s where it started.”
In Melanie’s Pepsi commercial, she is performing a modern dance version of Aretha Franklin’s hit ‘Respect’ and she said that singing that song was a dream come true for her. Amaro explains;
“I love Aretha Franklin and when I heard I was gonna do ‘Respect’ for the commercial, I was so happy, because I would see myself in the mirror when I was younger [singing that number]. To do it in a commercial with Elton John, I just think is amazing.”
After all the hype surrounding ‘X Factor’ turned out to be a big let down, the producers behind the show shook things up last week as it was announced that their host Steve Jones and two of the judges, Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger would not be returning for season two. So what does Melanie think of the changes? She said;
“Judging is a hard something and them being judges, I know they had to make some like big decisions on the show, but I’m just, I’m happy I had a chance to work with all of them. They’re amazing judges. They will be missed, but I just feel as though I need to look forward to what next season’s gonna bring, who [Simon Cowell] has up his sleeve to bring as a judge.”
If you just can’t wait until tomorrow to see Melaine and Elton’s Pepsi commercial, you can check it out below.
Photo: Fox, Melanie Amaro
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z03uWhfG3s&feature=player_embedded
JJ
February 5, 2012 @ 5:29 am
@Lance — I agree 100%. Great show.
Lance Mason
February 5, 2012 @ 5:25 am
Get your facts right. The US X factor did not fall to pieces, by any standard. Sure, it didn’t reach the ratings Cowell had predicted, but the show was a big hit for Fox, averaging at 12-14 million viewers per episode, and was very quickly renewed for a second season. When the Voice gained ratings slightly below those of the X factor, everyone called the Voice a huge hit. Hypocrisy! Sure, the expectations were higher from the x factor, but it is perfectly reasonable to measure success not only relative to expectations but also in absolute terms (that is, independent of expectations), and clearly, in absolute terms, the show was a clear hit, a bigger hit than the the Voice, which journalists hailed as a huge hit. Further, the show has produced some of the most talked about talent across all talent shows over the past few years. And you can hardly completely judge a show before its winner(s) release their albums. The problem with journalists today is two-fold: they exaggerate, and they don’t check appropriate sources — they base everything on what the previous guy said. So one guy, baselessly and exaggeratingly, calls the x factor a flop. The next guy reads this, and calls the x factor a super flop, and says that the show fell to pieces. What’s actually falling to pieces is journalists’ credibility.