July 19, 2021
Ask A Celebrity: Alexa’s Got New Voices, Including Shaquille O’Neal’s Baritone Vocals
You may be sick of how Amazon‘s Alexa sounds when commanding the device to look something up for you or to find your favorite movie or television show. If that’s the case, then you’re not alone.
Amazon has decided to mix things up a bit and introduce two familiar voices that you can hear and speak to.
Amazon has announced that it is adding two alternate voices to your Alexa experience. Pro Basketball Hall of Famer and current TNT sports announcer Shaquille O’Neal, as well as movie star and television personality, Melissa McCarthy have “joined” the voice of Alexa in your artificial intelligence experience. Oh, you can still utilize the voice of the first celebrity who “lent” his voice to the Alexa experience, Samuel L. Jackson.
“It’s on! Shaq is in the house to make your speakers bounce. Boomshakalaka!” said Shaquille O’Neal. “I’m so excited to be a part of the Alexa experience.”
“That’s right folks, get ready for the vocal stylings of this nasal Midwestern gal!” said Melissa McCarthy. “I am so excited to join the Alexa family. It’s been such a fun experience working on this project. I hope you all enjoy all my dad jokes! Fun fact — if you hear a slide whistle, it’s my personal one that I brought with me to the recording studio!”
These two voices will not appear in your Alexa experience without a price!
The new celebrity personalities are available for purchase for $4.99 each.
“Customers have had a lot of fun with the Samuel L. Jackson experience on Alexa, and when customers love something, we look for ways to give them more of it,” said Toni Reid, vice president of Alexa Experience & Echo Devices in a written statement. “We’re thrilled to add two new celebrity personalities to Alexa and had a great time working with Shaquille O’Neal and Melissa McCarthy on this project. We can’t wait to see what customers think.”