Up until this year Melody Thorton was best known for the obligatory belted ad-libs found at the end of every Pussycat Dolls song. Since then Melody has been hard at work on her debut album, determined to make a name for herself as a solo artist before Nicole Scherzinger can.
On the heels of releasing her 10-track mixtape, ‘P.O.Y.B.L. (Piss On Your Black List)’ and a music video for ‘Lipstick & Guilt’, Thorton earned herself a gig singing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at the L.A. Marathon.
The national anthem is no easy song to sing as it requires a singer’s singer to appropriately tackle the technical complexity of its melody and the challenging vocal it demands.
Listen to Thorton belt her way through America’s favorite song after the jump and sound-off below.
This former pussycat implored a refreshing level of control on her voice that’s been missing from majority of her recordings.
While it wasn’t a pitch perfect performance, Thorton should be praised for maintaining a firm grip on her vocal reigns by not letting her big voice get the best of her. The 27-year-old even gave Mariah Carey-tease with an impressive head voice crescendo on the word “Free” that was particularly stunning.
Melody deserves an A for effort, and B for execution. Good stuff!