Melanie Amaro's Pepsi SuperBowl commercial

[My Alter Ego]

New Top Comment for the Amaro video:

I love Melanie Amaro and I believe she has an excellent voice, but I have that they have taken such a classic song and gave it this basic ass techno music and autotuned it like they do all the music today! LA REID DONT YOU RUIN THIS ARTIST! Save this mess for Rihanna and her crappy dance records. But Melanie deserves more than this.
amrpriss 5 hours ago 12

In comments to the press after Amaro won (here) Simon responds to a reporters question as to how he sees her first album looking like, he replied (4:35) "Well she's a different kind of singer, so you don't want to be doing what everybody else is doing at the moment. There's a lot of dance at the moment, you know a lot of people voted for her, they want a different kind of record...we need to do her justice ...fortunately a lot of good producers want to work with her now...." Well, promo or whatever Melanie's first release is techno dance music, not something different. Of course, she hardly had time to consider it.

Melanie has signed with Epic Records (LA Reid) and this Pepsi Promo related single was produced by Stargate, who have done a lot with Rhianna and other big names. One of the most recent being J-Lo. This:

Stargate’s work is almost entirely ‘in the box’, but they keep a few rackmounting synths and samplers around. From top: Furman power conditioner, Digidesign 96I/O interface, Roland JV1010 synth, Yamaha Motif Rack synth, Emu Proteus 2000 synth, Yamaha Motif Rack XS, Digidesign MIDI interface, Apple G5 Power Mac and Akai S3000XL sampler.(link)

Melanie let them do this to her music; it not her style, but it is now part of her catalog. I'm confident that Haley won't let that happen, although I'm sure she has had to do a lot of push back. These kinds of producers are a danger. And if the words "a retro, Motown sound from the ‘60s that has some hip-hop drum beats mixed in" and "a modern twist" don't ring a bell (and I know they do for many), I was quoting Haley.

Oh dear -- Melanie's got her work cut out for her! I agree with the comment left by amrpriss. Melanie does have a wonderful voice and she deserves much better than this. And, as you pointed out, John, she hasn't had time to consider what direction she might want to go in and what would be best suited to her voice.

But I think the worst part for Melanie is that she is young, inexperienced, lacks confidence and doesn't have the built-in support system of a family immersed in music and all that that entails to help guide her in making good career choices (in her music making). Plus she may feel that she's responsible to make her family's life more comfortable. None of which bodes particularly well for her, given this very poor version of an classic song.

[Shela]

Melanie let them do this to her music; it not her style, but it is now part of her catalog. I'm confident that Haley won't let that happen, although I'm sure she has had to do a lot of push back. These kinds of producers are a danger. And if the words "a retro, Motown sound from the ‘60s that has some hip-hop drum beats mixed in" and "a modern twist" don't ring a bell (and I know they do for many), I was quoting Haley.

All the bells to ring...and if Haley can back up that statement with real music that fits those genders (and believe me I hope She will), then it will become an epic statement....

[My Alter Ego]

Sir Elton John and The X Factor winner, Melanie Amaro, face off in an epic, medieval music showdown. Proving once again, Where There's Pepsi, There's Music.

My comment on YouTube:

She grabbed his chalice, but in the final shot before the throw she was holding a Pepsi can in each hand. I think the client, Pepsi, must have insisted that shot be redone because the Pepsi can in her throwing hand wasn't prominent enough.

My comment on Twitter:

Spot would get more buzz if it featured Randy Jackson and Haley Reinhart.

In watching this again, I am struck by just how bad the whole premise is. I'm guessing that the idea of this ad had been in motion for months before the X-Factor winner was announced. Why?

Not only is it not original (thanks, Miguel for your post above -the Michael Jackson "Remember.." link), which I think is kind of expected for Super Bowl ads, it just lacks that something -- that je ne sais quoi -- that "X Factor" that Super Bowl ads are supposed to have. And that isn't Melanie's fault.

I'm guessing that this will be one of those Super Bowl ad duds.

[Miguel]

I was observing Twitter when this aired during the Superbowl. Reactions were mixed. Some like it, some didn't. Many people noted Elton and some Favor Flav. A few cited Melanie's name, but just as many, if not more, asked who is this girl/woman/(censored).

[midnightblues]

BTY Kelly did a great job singing the national anthem. Thank you New York for defeating New England ------------ again

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And now we present to you three-time Grammy winner third-place American Idol winner, multiplatinum in record sales, and voted female artist of the year , no best new artist of the year and best new album of the year, Haley Reinhart to sing the national anthem for Super Bowl XLIX any body wants to add to this feel free this is not a fantasy it will become reality.