Super Bowl commercial features the voice of Roosevelt student Denise Manning

Posted: 02/15/2012

On Super Bowl Sunday, Roosevelt University undergraduate Denise Manning got a big career boost, singing the refrain “Only Love Can Put the Pieces Back” for a 30-second TV ad highlighting the work of Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Manning, 21, an African-American studies major from Austin, Texas, was selected as the singing voice for the Ronald McDonald House Charities commercial that debuted during this month’s Super Bowl, and which is now airing on national TV.

Manning has been singing since she was a child, at school, church and for a variety of TV commercials in Austin. The jazz vocalist has also appeared in musicals all over the country and in the United Kingdom.

She tried out for the Ronald McDonald House commercial, originally as a back-up singer. However, by the time the spot was produced, the Roosevelt student was the commercial’s solo singer, her voice accompanied by piano.

The commercial profiles three-year-old Anastacio Cuevas, a child who beat leukemia through chemotherapy and with the support of his family and Ronald McDonald House Charities. The TV spot features the voice of Manning as well as photographs of Cuevas at various stages of recovery. Paid for by the McDonald’s Corporation, it is the fourth time that a commercial highlighting the Ronald McDonald House’s work has been aired during the annual Super Bowl.

“It’s definitely a big break for me,” said Manning. “A lot of people saw the commercial and heard my voice and I’m proud to have been part of the spot - even though it was sad to sing about kids who are ill.”

A junior at Roosevelt, Manning is the president of Roosevelt’s Black Student Union and co-founder of the University’s award-winning Proclaim Gospel Choir. She also works in Roosevelt’s Center for Student Involvement and is the online virtual tour guide for the University’s Office of Admission.

To see and hear the commercial, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlBha7AKGt4

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