The Pussycat Dolls: Difference between revisions
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|Past_members = Cyia Batten <br> Nadine Ellis <br> Staci Flood <br> Kasey Campbell <br> [[Rachel Sterling]] <br> Rebecca Pickering <br>Kaya Jones<br>[[Carmen Electra]]<br>[[Christina Aguilera]]<br>[[Eva Longoria]] <br>Kiva Dawson <br> Erica Gudis <br> Lindsley Allen }} |
|Past_members = Cyia Batten <br> Nadine Ellis <br> Staci Flood <br> Kasey Campbell <br> [[Rachel Sterling]] <br> Rebecca Pickering <br>Kaya Jones<br>[[Carmen Electra]]<br>[[Christina Aguilera]]<br>[[Eva Longoria]] <br>Kiva Dawson <br> Erica Gudis <br> Lindsley Allen }} |
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'''The Pussycat Dolls''' is an [[United States|American]] female [[ |
'''The Pussycat Dolls''' is an [[United States|American]] female [[RnB music|RnB]] singing group. The Dolls began as a [[burlesque]] [[dance]] troupe based in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], and expanded to [[Caesars Palace]] in [[Las Vegas]]. The group, which was founded by [[choreographer]] [[Robin Antin]] in 1995, released its first [[single (music)|single]] in 2005. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
Revision as of 22:36, 1 August 2006
Template:Infobox musical artist 2
The Pussycat Dolls is an American female RnB singing group. The Dolls began as a burlesque dance troupe based in Los Angeles, and expanded to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The group, which was founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995, released its first single in 2005.
Biography
1993–2003: Dance troupe beginnings
Some sources claim that Antin first began exploring the idea of a modern burlesque troupe in 1993 with her friend Christina Applegate; the troupe's first performance was in 1995. During this period they performed with numerous guest vocalists (see list below), with a repertoire of '50s and '60s pop standards, performed in lingerie and/or old-fashioned pin-up costumes. Antin reportedly drew inspiration from the choreography of Bob Fosse (Sweet Charity, Cabaret, Chicago).
They secured a Thursday night residency at Los Angeles nightclub The Viper Room, where they stayed from 1995–2001. In June 1999 Playboy ran a Pussycat Dolls pictorial, featuring at least contemporary members Kasey Campbell, Kiva Dawson, Erica Gudis and Lindsley Allen. In 2002 they moved to The Roxy. The group became internationally popular and was featured in magazines, television specials for MTV and VH1, ad campaigns, and movies. Carmen Electra was the group's lead performer for many of their shows. She said "I was part of the Dolls for two years and did every show with them...but financially, I couldn't become part of their new music project...It was a financial sacrifice I couldn't make."[1]
With the involvement of music producers Jimmy Iovine and Ron Fair, the troupe was re-cast, transformed into a pop/R&B recording group, and signed up as employees of Iovine's label Interscope Records.
2003-present: Music career
In 2003, Nicole Scherzinger (a.k.a. Nicole Kea), a former member of the American Popstars winners Eden's Crush, became the group's lead singer. The present members of the group are Nicole Scherzinger; Carmit Bachar (who joined in 1995); Jessica Sutta (who joined in 2002); and Melody Thornton, Kimberly Wyatt, and Ashley Roberts (who all joined in 2003). They opened the MTV Asia Awards 2004.
In 2005, The Pussycat Dolls released their debut album PCD. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, selling about 100,000 copies. It has produced four singles. "Don't Cha" (featuring Busta Rhymes, originally recorded by Tori Alamaze) became their first major hit. The follow-up, "Stickwitu", became the group's first U.S. # 1 Billboard Pop Radio hit,it went on to sell over a million digital downloads in the world and became their second #1 single in the UK. The third single, "Beep," featured Black Eyed Peas lead rapper will.i.am. They recently released their latest single, "Buttons," featuring Snoop Dogg which followed in the success of the previous singles and went straight into the top 3 on the UK singles chart, #3. The group's final single has been confirmed as the high tempo, club track Wait A Minute and is set for release next month, August 2006, in North America and I Don't Need A Man will be released Worldwide.
The Pussycat Dolls are proving to be a recognised female group as MTV hits (UK) marks them as #1 in Top 10 Female Groups (July 2006) beating #2 Destiny's Child and #7 Spice Girls.
The group won a Billboard Music Award for "Don't Cha" as Top Hot/Dance Club Play Single of the Year. The song was also nominated for Top-Selling Single of the Year and Top-Selling Dance Single of the Year.
At the SXSW music conference in 2006, Interscope lawyer Darryl Franklin said, during a panel discussion, that the contract with the group is unique in that its members are actually salaried employees of the record label and, by design, completely interchangeable. This means that in addition to CD sales, the label also controls merchandise, web sites and all other commercial aspects of the group and their income, excluding song publishing.[2]
Most recently, the Pussycat Dolls have ventured into the virtual world. In 2006, San Francisco-based company Doppelganger (along with Interscope Records) launched the PCD Music Lounge, an interactive website.
On June 30th's VSpot Top 20 Countdown, host Matt Pinfield announced that lead singer Nicole Scherzinger has written 12 new songs for the follow-up album to 2005's PCD.
Television series
In April 2006 The New York Times reported that Interscope executives are working to produce their own television series based on the Pussycat Dolls and overseen by McG, the former video director who also directed the movie Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, which featured the girls.[3]
Merchandise
In a merchandising agreement with Interscope, in 2006 toy manufacturer Hasbro had plans for a line of dolls modeled after The Pussycat Dolls, and reportedly aimed at six- to nine-year-olds. The groups "Dads and Daughters" and the "Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood" successfully lobbied the company to scrap the plan because they felt that the dolls would have been inappropriate for children, due to the overtly sexual nature of The Pussycat Dolls' songs, videos and live shows.
Interscope also negotiated a deal with Estée Lauder for a Pussycat Dolls line of cosmetics under the Stila brand. [4]
Vocalists
The Dolls have been accused of being a group where only one member sings (Nicole), and the rest are just eye candy. However, Melody has solo spots on tracks such as "Beep", "Bite The Dust", "Buttons", "I Don't Need A Man", "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)", "Sway", "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go","Stickwitu" and "Flirt". Carmit has solos in the songs "I Don't Need A Man", "Beep", "Flirt", "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)", "Right Now","Stickwitu", and "Tainted Love." Ashley, Kimberly and Jessica all sing lead on the Stickwitu beside "Santa Baby".
Repertoire
The Dolls' repertoire includes both contemporary pop/R&B and cover versions of pop standards. The covers often fit within the traditions of burlesque, cabaret and drag shows; featuring musical vamps and flirtatious choreography. Cover versions they have performed live or recorded include: "Big Spender" (Chita Rivera/Shirley Bassey), "Fever" (Peggy Lee), "Sway" (Dean Martin), "Santa Baby" (Eartha Kitt), "Feelin' Good" (Nina Simone), "Tainted Love" (Gloria Jones/Soft Cell), "Where Did Our Love Go" (The Supremes/Soft Cell), "Hot Stuff" (Donna Summer), "Right Now" (Mel Torme), and "Don't Cha" (Tori Alamaze).
During their appearance in the movie Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle they dance to a vamp of "The Pink Panther Theme".
Discography
Albums
Release date | Title | Chart positions | Worldwide sales | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S | UK | AUS | NZ | NL | BE | GER | |||
September 13, 2005 | PCD | 5 (1,841,338 copies) | 7 | 8 | 1 [1] | 11 | 6 (200,000 copies) | 200,000 copies | 4.212 Million [5] |
Singles
Year | Title | Album | Chart positions | RIAA certification
| |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. | UK | AUS | NZ | NL | BE | GER | CAN | PHI | RMA | ||||
2005 | "Don't Cha" (feat. Busta Rhymes) |
PCD | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2x Platinum |
2005 | "Stickwitu" | PCD | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 23 | 5 | 1 | Gold |
2006 | "Beep" (feat Will.I.Am) |
PCD | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 60 | 1 | 1 | Not Certified |
2006 | "Buttons" (feat. Snoop Dogg) |
PCD 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 63 | 4 | 3 | Gold |
2006 | "Wait A Minute" (feat. Timbaland) |
PCD | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | 12 | 12 | 1 | TBA |
2006 | "I Don't Need A Man" | PCD | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR |
- 1 The version of "Buttons" on the PCD album does not include Snoop Dogg.
Recognitions
Year | Award-giving Body | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Billboard Music Award | Top-selling R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year (Don't Cha) | Won |
2005 | Billboard Music Award | Top-selling Dance Single of the Year (Don't Cha) | Nominated |
2005 | Billboard Music Award | Top Dance/Club Play Single of the Year for (Don't Cha) | Won |
2005 | Billboard Music Award | Top-selling Single of the Year (Don't Cha) | Nominated |
2005 | Billboard Music Award | Top Dance/Club Play Artist of the Year | Nominated |
2005 | UK Smash Hits Awards | Best Video of The Year (Don't Cha) | Won |
2005 | Der goldene Otto (silver edition), in Germany | Best Pop Group | Won |
2006 | Die Goldene Kamera | Pop International | Won |
2006 | Echo | Pop International | Nominated |
2006 | MTV Australia Video Music Awards | R&B Video of the Year (Don't Cha) | Nominated |
2006 | MTV Asia Awards | Favorite Breakthrough Artist | Nominated |
2006 | MTV Pilipinas Video Music Awards | Favorite International Video (Don't Cha) | Nominated |
2006 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Dance Video (Buttons) | Nominated |
Celebrities performed with
Female guests
- Jessica Simpson
- Christina Aguilera
- Carmen Electra
- Pamela Anderson
- Christina Applegate
- Samaire Armstrong
- Nikka Costa
- Fergie
- Willa Ford
- Paris Hilton
- Shannon Elizabeth
- Scarlett Johansson
- Eva Longoria
- Brittany Murphy
- Kelly Osbourne
- Jordan
- Pink
- Jaime Pressly
- Denise Richards
- Nicolette Sheridan
- Gwen Stefani
- Charlize Theron
- Britney Spears
- Dita Von Teese
- Drew Barrymore
- Lucy Liu
- Cameron Diaz
- Lindsay Lohan