Temara Melek

Temara Melek Ellinger (born May 4, 1998) is an American singer and actress. She made cameos and has appeared as a guest star on several TV shows including Modern Family (2010), The Vampire Diaries (2017), Westworld (2018) and Legacies (2019).^[1][2] She released her debut single "Karma's Not Pretty" in 2013.

Temara Melek
Born	(1998-05-04) May 4, 1998 (age 26) Loveland, Colorado, U.S.
Education	Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
Occupations	Singer actress
Years active	2011–present
Website	temaramelek.com

Early life and career

Temara Melek was born May 4, 1998, to mother Tiffany Ellinger. She is the sister of actor Tarik Ellinger and Taylor Ellinger. Temara started singing at the age of four. At a young age, her family relocated to California.^[3] Temara attended Oak Park Independent High School where she graduated 1 year early to attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising where she studied fashion design and merchandising.^[1]

Melek released her first music video for the song "Pour It On Sweet" in 2011.^[4] She later released an extended play (EP) titled Main Attraction in 2012, and it got nominated for a Los Angeles Music Awards in the category of Pop Album of the Year.^[5] Later, Melek worked with Cassadee Pope, former lead singer of Hey Monday and winner of the third season of The Voice, and they wrote the song "Karma's Not Pretty" which was released as her debut single.^[6] The song itself reached No. 8 in the UK's Most Watched Music Video charts, and No. 10 in the VIVA online charts^[7] and was reviewed by OK! Magazine, MTV, The Independent, Huffington Post, Teen magazine, Girl Talk and The Hits Radio FM.^[8][9] This song also earned her the Academia Music Award for Best Pop Song in the 2013 ceremony.^[1] The music video for this single featured Pretty Little Liars actors Gregg Sulkin and Keegan Allen.^[10] The attention garnered from "Karma's Not Pretty", led to her being selected by American singer Demi Lovato's production staff to appear as a guest at her first live streamed concert in October 2013.^[8]

In 2014, Melek was a part of Macy's iHeartRadio Rising Star talent search.^[11] During the same year, she collaborated with on DJ Antoine and Mad Mark, providing vocals for their song "Go With Your Heart", which charted in several European charts, including in Germany, Switzerland and Belgium.^{[citation needed]} In 2015, she released her second solo single "Fingerprints"^[12], and the music video was exclusively released on RyanSeacrest.com. Two years later, in 2017, she released a single titled "Playing With Fire".^[13]

In the Summer of 2019, Melek started working with new songwriters and producers, and released "Privacy", which was described to be a 'glimmering pop' track.^[2] In 2020, she released a single called "Crash".^[14]

Musical influences and style

Temara's musical style has been compared to Katy Perry.^[8] Her musical influences are Little Mix, Cheryl Cole, Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande.^[15]

Discography

Extended plays

Title	Notes
Main Attraction	Released: May 23, 2012[16][17] Label: Self-released

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		CHE[18]	GER[19]
"Karma's Not Pretty"[A]	2013	—	—	Non-album singles
"Fingerprints"	2014	—	—
"Playing With Fire"	2017	—	—
"Privacy"	2019	—	—
"Crash"	2020	—	—
As a featured artist
"Go With Your Heart (feat. Temara Melek & Euro)"[B]	2014	50	10	The Time Is Now

Promotional singles

Title	Year	Album
"Pour It On Sweet"	2011	Non-album promotional singles
"Cali Skies"[20]	2012
"Paperheart"[C]	2019

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Standing Tall at Auschwitz	Child on a train	Documentary
2011	Scary Girl	Herself	Short film
2012	16-Love	Girl in pool	Cameo role
2018	Christmas Everlasting	Cookie Party Coordinator	Uncredited role

TV shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Why Can't I Be You?	Birthday Girl	One episode; 1.16
2010	Modern Family	Dance Attendee	One episode; Dance Dance Revelation
2011	The Doctors	Daughter	One episode; 30 Ways to Heal Yourself Without a Doctor
	World Music Awards 2011	Herself
2011–2012	On The Spot	Herself	Documentary short
2013–2017	Teens Wanna Know	Herself	Two episodes
2016	Astrid Clover	Bethany	One episode; Speed Dating
2017	The Vampire Diaries	Mystic Falls Student	One episode; We Have History Together
2018	Westworld	Townswoman	One episode; The Passenger
2018–2019	Legacies	Salvatore Witch / Kissing Girl	Two episodes

Music videos

Title	Year	Artist	Director(s)	Ref.
"Pour It On Sweet"	2011	Herself	None credited	[21]
"Main Attraction"	2012			[22]
"Cali Skies"				[23]
"Karma's Not Pretty"	2013			[9]
"Fingerprints"	2014		Josh Forbes	[24]
"Playing With Fire"	2017		None credited	[25]
"Pregame"	2022	Niki DeMar	Nayip Ramos	[26]

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Work	Category	Result
LA Music Awards	2013	Main Attraction	Pop Album of The Year	Nominated
Academia Music Award	2013	"Karma's Not Pretty"	Best Pop Song	Won

Notes

1. "Karma's Not Pretty" originally appeared on Melek's debut EP Main Attraction, but the EP was later removed from all streaming services.
2. Song by DJ Antonio vs. Mad Mark
3. "Paperheart" was released in 2016 exclusively on Soundcloud. But later, Melek released the song for free as a Holiday gift for her fans on her website.