Amanda Mena
Amanda Mena has demonstrated exceptional success as a talented singer, recently seen on American Idol Season 2021. She wowed the judges and left them speechless with her first performance – the judges “immediately” giving her the Golden Pass to Hollywood Week, never done before without debate! “You’re one of a kind,” judge Katy Perry told her.
Amanda is that rare performer who now has performed on all three major National TV Shows: (1) American Idol, (2) America’s Got Talent, and (3) The Voice (La Voz Kids).
On Season 13 of America’s Got Talent. Mena was able to capture judge Mel B’s heart and earned the Golden Buzzer with her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman” with what Howie Mandel referred to as a “supernatural talent” and Simon Cowell praised as a voice with “genuine natural soul”. America’s Got Talent recently rated Amanda’s performance as one of the 10 best vocal performances in its’ TV history!
No stranger to capturing audiences, the young vocalist gained international attention when she won the Spanish-language singing competition, La Voz Kids, on Telemundo in 2014 at age of 11. From that performance, Columbia Records signed Amanda to a singing contract.
In May 2021, Amanda was the lead performer at the “2021 Emmy Awards” held in the Dominican Republic. She gave an inspiring performance, after which she was hosted by the major TV stations throughout the island. The Emmy Awards Producer has scheduled Amanda to perform again at the Awards Ceremony in March, 2024.
Her talent has brought her to perform on Broadway, singing “I Feel the Earth Move” in the Carole King musical Beautiful with renowned actress Melissa Benoist. Shortly thereafter, Amanda was invited by leading Hollywood Producer Kenny Ortega to perform a tribute to the late Aretha Franklin at the 33rd Annual Imogen Foundation Awards (Latin Academy Awards) at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
In 2019 Amanda performed at the Kuwait American Foundation at the Reagan Center in Washington D.C.. Then, winning the Fidelity Young Artists competition earned Amanda the opportunity to perform at the Boston Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert in May. Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart was so impressed with her standing ovation performance that he invited Amanda to perform at the nationally televised Boston Pops Fourth of July Spectacular on the Esplanade, along with Queen Latifah and Arlo Guthrie. Her performance was so inspiring that Keith Lockhart rated it among his top shows over the past 3 years and used it for their 2021 Televised “video Boston Pops Fourth of July Spectacular” during the Covid down year.
That fall, Amanda was invited to sing at the prestigious Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, where she had the honor of sharing the stage with the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Judge on the Supreme Court of the United States, and renowned actress Jane Fonda, among other impressive female role models. Amanda’s inspiring performance led to her being invited the following year to provide the exclusive tribute and songs for Aretha Franklin’s Induction to the Women’s Hall of Fame.
Amanda was honored to perform the National Anthem at the Opening Game for the New England Patriots celebrating their 2019 Super Bowl Championship. Thereafter, the Patriots invited Amanda to perform the National Anthem at their 2020 and 2021 opening games. In addition, in 2021, the Kraft Organization had her perform a special 20th anniversary 9/11 tribute at the N.E. Revolution night game. The half-time show with lights out, silence and spotlight on Amanda, singing a three-song tribute – very emotional!
Amanda was invited by Grammy and Oscar nominee Patti Austin to sing a duet, performing at the Cabot Theater. Thereafter, Amanda was invited to perform at Boston’s Harvard College Club as part of the Boston’s Most Influential Women Gala. Hollywood has also reached out to Amanda for acting roles with A-list filmmakers, such as Kenny Ortega, director of the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It and Disney’s High School Musical; as well as the legendary Steven Spielberg, who invited Amanda to audition for the lead role of Maria in his film version of West Side Story.
While advancing her career, Amanda has released her first two singles and a music video, Dime Como, which have been enthusiastically received by her 200,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook
Amanda will be a Senior at The Berklee College of Music. During her Spring 2023 Semester, Amanda was selected to study and perform at Berklee College’s Valencia, Spain campus and was the highlight singer at their final Ensemble Performance.
Amanda performed at the New Years First Night 2023 Performance at Copley Square to live audience and NBC television. In addition, Amanda has directed her own two-hour performances – with City Winery Sell-Out Performances in Fall 2022 and again in 2023, with an All-Star Berklee band, which were sellout successes, patrons dancing in the aisles.
Amanda graduated with honors from St. Mary’s High School in Lynn, Massachusetts in 2021.