The Bite Magazine - Autmn/Winter 2020 - Issue 28

bitemusicceleb and not being given a chance to use her singing voice. “They said we’re going to have Nicole do all of the record- ings, you’re going to have to learn and dance with the rest of these girls,” she revealed. “For me, it really affected my confidence because I wasn’t using my best asset, and peo- ple were getting to know me for something that I didn’t do. And I was the weakest dancer, so it was challenging.” Although Nicole said she sang 95% of the first album, Mel- ody did some of the ad-libbing on the original recording. At the 2006 American Music Awards, Melody was absent from the performance until the end. Many assumed she had been locked in the dressing room, but apparently, she had missed the rehearsals and was told to come out at the very end and sing since she “didn’t know the choreogra- phy.” Whether this is true or not, Nicole didn’t seem happy when she ad-libbed over her vocals and took centre stage. All of the girls apart from Melody returned for the reunion with plans to embark on a nine-date tour of the UK and Ireland. In the interview with Heart , Nicole told Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden, “The stars have aligned, and the dolls are getting back together, and we’re here to announce our reunion tour.” When asked why now, Ashley replied, “I think it’s just the timing. The stars [have] aligned, there’s unfinished business. It’s been ten years since we’ve all gotten back together. And we were ready to do it.” In a November 2019 interview with The Sun, the lead sing- er was asked about the break-up. She reaffirmed the group members never went claw-to-claw before they disbanded. “It’s natural people are going to disagree and argue,” she explained. “But we always had so much respect for each other. We never had any knockdown, drag-out, crazy fights.” But she is thrilled they are back together again. “I love all my girls so much and [we] cannot wait to show you what we’ve got in store for you.” Initially formed in 1995 by choreographer Robin Antin as a modern burlesque troupe, The Pussycat Dolls were a different line-up to the group today, apart from Carmit Bachar. Carla Kama and Christina Applegate were also part of the original performers who danced to a repertoire of 1950s and 1960s popular music while dressed in lin- gerie or old-fashioned pin-up costumes. They performed regularly at Los Angeles nightclub, the Viper Club and ap- peared in 1998 films Matters of Consequence and The Treat. In 1999, the Pussycat Dolls received massive press coverage when Playboy featured seven of the members - Kasey Campbell, Kiva Dawson, Antonietta Macri, Erica Breckels, Katie Bergold, Erica Gudis, and Lindsley Allen - posing semi-nude in a pictorial. They also appeared in maga- zines including a Maxim cover with Carmen Electra (who was the group’s lead performer for many of their shows), Christina Applegate, and Christina Aguilera, as well as in television specials for MTV and VH1, ad campaigns, and films. Four years later, the dance troupe emerged into the record- ing pop group that we know today. Initially, there were nine girls recruited, including the five reunited members and Melody. Kaya Jones, Cyia Batten, and Kasey Campbell left in September 2004 and January 2005 respectively. The group’s 2005 debut album PCD sold three million copies in the United States and the lead single ‘Don’t Cha’ was a #1 hit in various countries worldwide. Their second album Doll Domination did not do so well. The Pussycat Dolls’ performances of their past chart-top- ping songs and new track ‘React’ on The X Factor: Celeb- rity, The One Show, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and Australian show Sunrise generated hundreds of complaints. British viewers complained to media watchdog Ofcom about the group’s inappropriate racy performance and the scantily clad outfits they wore that was described as a ‘trashy strip show” before the watershed of 9pm. One wrote on social media, “Nothing like soft porn to groom the next generation of girls. Disgraceful for a family show” and another added, “It makes me uncomfortable