MelindadelToro

17 years old Melinda has already "wowed" crowds at venues like the Plaza Mexico in Lynwood, the Norwalk Ramada Inn, and most recently at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena, with her beauty, stage presence, and singing voice. Easily ranging from Ranchera & Mariachi, to R & B to Soul to Latin Rock, Melinda credits her father for her early musical inspiration, and her close-knit family for giving her love and strong encouragement. "I come from a large, proud family whose roots are from Mexico. Even though I was born in La Palma, California, my father, uncles, and aunts all sang or played instruments and raised me on Mexican Mariachi and Ranchera music ever since I can remember, always inviting me to sing, and encouraging me every step of the way, even when I wanted to sing R & B instead of traditional music I was raised on. My parents and sisters come to all my performances, and when I see them out in the audience with tears of pride in their eyes while I'm up on stage...I just want to cry and sing my heart out just for them. Singing makes me happy that I make everybody around me happy, especially my family. I love singing and I love my family." That love came to people's attention when Melinda was only 3 years old, and pretty much established her as a prodigy. "Even though I hadn't had any formal singing training, at age 3, I was singing full songs with my Dad, entertaining family members," Melinda recalls. "My older sister was 15 at the time and was starting out as a teen-age model for a small agency my Mom helped out with. During an Agency public event, for some reason, the hosts started inviting members of the attending crowd if anybody wanted to come up and sing. Well, the crowd was sure shocked when this 3 year old little girl strutted up there and sang the complete 'Nieves de Enero' in accapella . After that, it was on! I knew then I wanted to be a singer."