- Melissa Molinaro
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Melissa Molinaro Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada Genres Pop, Dance, R&B Occupations Singer, Actress, Choreographer, Model, Socialite Years active 2002–present Labels Maleca Records Melissa Molinaro (born June 4, 1982) also credited or known as Melissa S. or Melissa Smith is a Canadian, pop singer, actress, choreographer and model. She is perhaps best known for her reality TV appearances on Making The Band 3 and Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For the Next Doll. She is ready to release her debut pop/dance album scheduled for a 2012 release, recently co-starred in Dolph Lundgren's action film, Command Performance, and had a major role in Honey 2. She adopted her mother's maiden name Molinaro as her professional name in 2010. Melissa has received notable attention from her appearance in Old Navy's "Super C-U-T-E" commercial in 2011. The video for "Dance Floor", the first single from Melissa's debut album "The Love/Dance Project" features choreography by JaQuel Knight had its debut on YouTube on 24 February 2011.
Contents
Career
Born Melissa Ann Smith in Whitby, Ontario, her family moved to Rochester Hills, Michigan when she was 13 years old. She began figure skating at the age of 3, gymnastics at age 5 and soon began attending Deborah's Stage Dance Door Performing Arts Academy. She was cast as the lead in on-stage productions like "Cinderella", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Cabaret".
At the age of 18, Melissa auditioned for the girl pop group, "Goddess", and became its lead singer. She was signed to a production deal with Interscope Records, and made her first recording demo. While Goddess never achieved greatness, Melissa continued to work consistently as an actor, dancer and model, appearing in several films, television shows, music videos and commercials.
Her early credits include feature film High Crimes and The Hillz; TV series Happy Family, Rodney and Grounded for Life and the unaired WB pilot Prep; music videos for Celine Dion and JC Chasez and The Black Eyed Peas Instant Def webisode. She has appeared in many commercials and done promotional modeling for Miss Fitness, Detroit Automotive Show, Sports By Brooks, Microsoft, Xbox, Sketcher, Nappytabs, Nivea and Dickies Girls.
She auditioned for MTV's Making The Band 3 and almost won a spot in the group Danity Kane. She made the final eleven girls but when it came to the finale of the show, the final slot came down to Melissa and Aundrea Fimbres and Fimbres made the cut. She later took part in another music-themed reality TV show called Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For the Next Doll in which she competed to become the next member of The Pussycat Dolls. She won many challenges and finished as the 3rd runner up. She went on to host the Detroit auditions for Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious for CW 50.
She recorded her debut solo single I Believed with producer Rex Rideout, which was released independently with 4847 Records in 2008 on iTunes. Her music video to I Believed has collectively received nearly one million views on YouTube.[1]
She landed a lead role in an action movie starring and directed by Dolph Lundgren, Command Performance in which she plays Venus, a massive music star who becomes a hostage after a Moscow charity concert turns bloody. She performs a song called Lost In Love in the film, which is commercially available on the 2008 compilation album Soul By The Pound from Fluid Music USA Inc. She guest starred on Slavi's Show to promote "Command Performance" which premiered at the Ischia Film Festival on July 19, 2009 and was then released on DVD on November 3, 2009.[2]
In 2009, she appeared in the Fox sitcom Brothers and on Jimmy Kimmel Live at the Los Angeles premiere of the film Michael Jackson's This Is It. In 2010, she appeared in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
In early 2011, Molinaro was featured as the lead performer in the smash hit Old Navy advertisement "Super C-U-T-E" that garnered over 1.7 million views on YouTube within the first week of release.[3] The advertisement also received notice from entertainment outlets such as People and E! News for Molinaro's purported resemblance to Kim Kardashian in the shoot.[4][5] Old Navy has reportedly been sued by Kardashian for this ad.[6] She also released her single Dance Floor on 25 February 2011 and the music video has over 800 thousand views on YouTube.[7]
She landed the role of Carla in the dance sequel Honey 2 and had a small but memorable role as Melissa in the comedy movie Balls to the Wall which was released in 2011. Her debut album is expected to be released in 2012 and features collaborations with multiple producers and songwriters. She is set to guest star in The Game[8] episode Catfight on the Catwalk as Kylie. She has been cast as Nooki in the upcoming Syfy TV movie Jersey Shore Shark Attack which will air in 2012.
Filmography
- Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012) as Nooki
- The Game (2012) (TV series) (episode Catfight on the Catwalk) as Kylie
- Honey 2 (2011) as Carla (as Melissa Smith)
- Balls to the Wall (2011) as Melissa
- TMZ on TV (2011) (TV series) (episode dated 28 March 2011) as Herself
- Inside Edition (2011) (TV series) (episode dated 10 March 2011) as Herself
- ET Canada (2007–2011) (TV series) (2 episodes) as Herself
- E! News (2011) (TV series) (episode dated 25 February 2011) as Herself
- How I Met Your Mother (2010) (TV series) (episode False Positive (How I Met Your Mother)) as Noelle
- Entertainment Tonight (2010) (TV series) (episode dated 25 June 2011) as Herself
- Brothers (2009) (TV series) (episode Week in the Chair) as Girl #2 (as Melissa Smith)
- Command Performance (2009) as Venus (as Melissa Smith)
- Jimmy Kimmel Live (2009) (TV series) (episode dated dated 29 October 2009) as Herself (as Melissa Smith)
- The Aubrey O'Day Show (2009) as Herself (as Melissa)
- Slavi's Show (2008) (TV series) (episode dated dated 12 September 2008) as Herself (as Melissa Smith)
- The Bad Ass Frank Show (2008) (web series) (episodes #55 & #56) as Herself (as Melissa Smith)
- CushTV (2007) (webisode) as Jenny (as Melissa Smith)
- CW 50 (2007 (webisode) as Herself – Host (as Melissa S.)
- Star! Daily (2007) (TV series) (episode dated dated 23 April 2007) as Herself (as Melissa Smith)
- Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For the Next Doll (2007) (TV series) as Herself – Contestant (as Melissa S.)
- Exposed (2007) (TV series) (episode Celebrity Edition) as Herself (as Melissa Smith)
- Balance (2006) as Girl Victim (as Melissa Smith)
- Rodney (2006) (TV series) (episode Where the Rubber Meets the Road) as Dance Major (as Melissa Smith)
- The Black Eyed Peas Instant Def (2006) (webisode) as Girl in the Crowd (as Melissa Smith)
- Making The Band 3 (2005–2006) (TV series) as Herself – Contestant (Season 2) (as Melissa)
- The Young and the Restless (2004) as JT's Love Interest (as Melissa Smith)
- Happy Family (2004) as Hostess (as Melissa Smith)
- The Hillz (2004) as Melissa (as Melissa Smith)
- Bikini Destinations (2004) (TV series) (episode Costa Rica) as Herself – Model (as Melissa Smith)
- Destiny's Child (2003) as Danielle (as Melissa Smith)
- Grounded for Life (2003) (TV series) (episode Just Like a Woman) as Cheerleader (uncredited)
- High Crimes (2002) as Soldier’s Girlfriend (uncredited)
- Prep (2002) as Britney (as Melissa Smith)
- Journey of Redemption (2002) as Ashley Anderson (as Melissa Smith)
Discography
Albums
- The Love/Dance Project (2011)
Compilation albums
Year Album Compilation Tracks 2008 Soul By The Pound Lost In Love Singles
Year Title Album Chart positions U.S. 2008 "I Believed" I Believed (Single) N/A "Lost In Love" Soul By The Pound N/A 2011 "Dance Floor" The Love/Dance Project N/A 2011 "Shake The World" The Love/Dance Project N/A Other songs
- So Hot
- Maybe
- Exposed
- Not That Simple
- Pills
- Farenheit
- Goodbye Forever
- Sex Tape
- Turn It Up
References
- ^ "Melissa "I Believed"". YouTube. 2008-02-24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx6yaSo1e0U. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ "Command Performance (2009) – Download Command Performance (2009) on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2009-11-03. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewMovie?id=336334883&s=143441. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ "Old Navy Records Presents: "Super C-U-T-E" by The Audio Threadz". YouTube. 2011-02-17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqIP6xVB6U8&feature=feedlik. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ Parsley, Aaron (2011-02-23). "Kim Kardashian Lookalike Old Navy Ad 'Super C-U-T-E'". People.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20468456,00.html. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ "What's Up With Old Navy's Kim Fauxdashian?". E! Online. 2011-02-24. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b227864_whats_up_with_old_navys_kim_fauxdashian.html. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Melissa Molinaro – Dance Floor (Music Video)". YouTube. 2011-02-24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nTuHFMZsrs. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/MelissaMolinaro/status/132569791318851584
External links
Categories:- 1982 births
- Actors from Ontario
- Actors from Michigan
- Canadian film actors
- Canadian television actors
- Canadian female models
- Canadian pop singers
- Canadian female singers
- Canadian people of Italian descent
- Canadian emigrants to the United States
- Living people
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