Pussycat power

The Pussycat Dolls are a phenomenon. They may be dismissed as nothing more than glorified pole dancers by followers of indie rock, but that’s hardly likely to worry them. In fact, they began their career as a modern burlesque troupe, dressing up for their performances in lingerie. Sex was always an essential part of their armoury.

They were recast as a pop/r’n’b act by the legendary producer and boss of Interscope Records Jimmy Iovine, and – uniquely – made salaried employees of the label. The hits have flowed almost from day one, with ‘Don’t Cha’ (with Busta Rhymes) – the second single from their debut album PCD – giving them their breakthrough hit. Since then, it’s been roses all the way.
The girls flew into Dublin two days before their sell-out Point Theatre gig, to make a special appearance at the seventh Meteor Awards ceremony. Just before their performance at the Awards show, five of the six Dolls – Nicole Scherzinger, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Melody Thornton (Kimberly Wyatt apparently wasn’t feeling too well) – arrived into the press conference area backstage at The Point to whoops and hollers from the assembled press gang. You gotta just love journalists – dignified to a man!
They proceeded to charm everyone present with their own saucy version of girl power. When asked by one hack what she thought of Irish men, Scherzinger, the unofficial leader of the group sported a big grin: “We just love them and the Irish accent is sooo sexy,” she beamed. “It’s one of the reasons we just love coming back here.”
Bet you say that to all the guys, Nicole...
Scherzinger, whose background is an exotic mix of Hawaiian, Russian and Filipino, was chosen to present an award on the night to Snow Patrol. You might have thought there was a touch of awards-itis in the air when she revealed that one of her favourite Irish men right now is Gary Lightbody, the band’s frontman. But they do have previous. Her upcoming solo album features a Lightbody song ‘Just Say Yes’ and the 28-year old spoke in glowing terms about the song, which was written especially for her. “It’s just such an honour for me to sing anything written by him,” she said. “I love Snow Patrol, I think we all do.”
Someone in the back row asked would her impending solo career mean her leaving the group? A diplomat to the tips of her finely manicured nails, Nicole – who was the singer with the rock band Days Of The New, as well as Popstars offshoot Eden’s Crush – immediately quelled any such notions. “We are a family, we all love each other and my heart is in the Pussycat Dolls,” she insisted. “Besides, we’ve invested so much time and effort in making this a success – I’m not going to walk away from it that easily.”
“We’ll hold her hostage if she even thinks about leaving,” Jessica Sutta interjected to laughs all round.
There were further bizarre questions about the Dolls’ shopping habits when in Ireland and one in particular concerning the Penneys chainstore. “We were in Penneys the last time we were here but we just bought headbands,” confirmed Scherzinger. “I got a nice red one – it felt good and sassy. We like to get bargains but we also like spending money on expensive things.”
Well, that shouldn’t be a problem for the foreseeable future...