Melanie Amaro wins X factor

Melanie Amaro

Melanie Amaro wins X factor

Melanie Ann Amaro (born June 26, 1992) is an American-born British Virgin Islands singer who won the first season of The X Factor in 2011, securing a $5 million recording contract with Syco Music and Epic Records. Melanie Amaro was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,[1] and raised in Tortola, British Virgin Islands since age three.[2] Amaro was sent to the British Virgin Islands to live with her grandmother Catherine, after her parents Hipolito Amaro and Debra Sylvester Amaro felt they did not have the means to provide for her.[3] Amaro would only see her parents during summer vacations and Christmas breaks.[1] She also has two brothers named Mark and Mike, and a younger sister named Maya.[3] Her mother Debra recalls that when her daughter was about six months old, she would get up at around two o'clock in the morning and would start singing in her crib.[4][1] Furthermore, from an early age, Amaro would sing around her house using a hairbrush as a microphone.[3] Melanie realized she fell in love with singing and acting at around age eleven, and credits her mother for pushing her to follow her singing dreams.[1] Amaro never entered any singing competitions as a child, but performed at weddings, churches, and other events.[4] Melanie graduated from Plantation High School in 2010.