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Pussycat Dolls tackle arenas with Christina Aguilera
Armed with a multitude of hits including "Don't Cha," the Grammy-nominated "Stickwitu" and the Timbaland collaboration "Wait a Minute," the Pussycat Dolls claim they aim to "empower" young women with their lyrics, style and panache. As a result, the sextet--whose songs are plastered all over children's radio--has to watch its moves with the press and in public.
"I pay attention to everything I say, the way that I look," said singer Melody Thornton, calling recently from Fresno, CA, told LiveDaily.
"There's so much pressure. I don't want to limit myself, but there's something originally we did that they love. I don't want to jeopardize [our young fans'] idea of wholesome, beautiful, talented women."
The Pussycat Dolls' collection of hits is courtesy of Thornton--who began competing in pageants when she was 9--along with her cohorts Nicole Scherzinger (the group's lead singer), Jessica Sutta (a former Miami Heat dance troupe captain), Carmit Bachar (who starred as Ricky Martin's "La Vida Loca" girl on tour), Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt. The group's Top 10 songs, which also include "Beep" and "Buttons," appear on the Pussycat Dolls' 2005 platinum-selling debut, "PCD."
"It's been a hell of a start," Thornton said about the group's evolution from playing clubs to arenas, opening for the Black Eyed Peas and now Christina Aguilera . "I love an intimate crowd, don't get me wrong. But I love it when the arena is all cell phones. It's not lighters anymore."
The Pussycat Dolls began as a dance troupe 10 years ago founded by choreographer Robin Antin and her roommate, actress Christina Applegate. The group made its home at Johnny Depp's Viper Room in Los Angeles, dancing to the likes of songs by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bjork and Led Zeppelin.
"Inside every woman is a Pussycat Doll," Antin said in the group's bio. "It's about female empowerment, about being confident with who you are. It's about singing and dancing in front of a mirror by yourself and having fun."
In the bio, Scherzinger added, "To me, a Pussycat Doll is fearless but also vulnerable. We're strong but we like to play too. The line in 'Don't Cha'--'don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me'--is meant to be empowering. The Pussycat Dolls are not about just being hot but also about saying something with real feeling."
Thornton, who auditioned for the troupe just out of high school in December 2003, explained that the Pussycat Dolls' turning point came when Gwen Stefani guest-starred as a dancer and singer with the group in Los Angeles. She brought along representatives from her record label, Interscope Records, interest grew, and the Pussycat Dolls inked a deal with the company.
Although there is a Pussycat Dolls lounge in Caesars Palace's Pure nightclub in Las Vegas, the original troupe does not dance there. Across from it is a new casino decked out with Pussycat Dolls gear.
"We're recording artists. We have a lounge in Las Vegas, but it pays homage to the show we used to do at the Viper Room," Thornton said. "It's a destination club. We hope to open [a string] of them."
In the meantime, the Pussycat Dolls are promoting "PCD," which features guest stars Busta Rhymes (on "Don't Cha"), The Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am (on "Beep") and Timbaland (on "Wait a Minute").
Thornton said the performance is sure to please fans who followed the Pussycat Dolls from the beginning.
"It will be a throwback to the show we used to do at the Viper Room. We had a really talented producer for the show. [Atlanta-based] Polow [Da Don] produced the show and made everything work perfectly," she said.
