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Posts Tagged “Pussycat Dolls”

putting the pseudo in pseudo-event

Live-Blogging The 2008 American Music Awards: Get Ready For The Triumphant Return Of The Medley

Good evening, friends! Tonight is the American Music Awards, the annual event where the American public is allowed to pretend like it cares about the music industry as the biz's most important releases either get pushed out to retail ahead of their street dates or get shoved into a dusty corner of the retailers with which they've struck exclusive distribution deals. And as if to underscore the whole "why people don't care about the music business" ideal," I'm watching the red carpet show, which apparently has contracted at least partial hostship duties to Nicole "You Know, I'm In The Pussycat Dolls" Scherzinger, who is apparently contractually obligated to flaunt her ass as she conducts awkward interviews with the likes of Steven Tyler and Ne-Yo in hopes that people actually care about her existence and maybe buy a copy of Doll Domination so as to easily conjure up further posterior-related fantasies in the comfort of their own home. Full coverage after the jump! More »

things it is way too early for

Nicole Scherzinger Has A Shoe Fetish


Speaking of LeBron James, he's apparently the latest person charged with encouraging people to care about Nicole Scherzinger again. The two appear in a (nearly four-minute!) Nike ad that's supposed to be "funny," I guess, since instead of diamonds La Scherz gets all hot and bothered when her man presents her with a pair of self-branded kicks. But it just made me think about how the Pussycat Dolls' brand of sexiness has flipped up on itself and turned into this sort of inverted camp at this point, and how Scherzinger's "turned-on" persona, which I guess still sort of works as far as titillating some people (maybe?), could probably be flipped on with an item as mundane as a jar of mustard if the price was right. [YouTube via Cajun Boy In The City]

the not quite as detestable, the winter festival

Phoenix To Host Greatest Concert Lineup Since The US Festival

I'm sure it's more due to the booking power of Clear Channel than the promotional talents of morning show idiots Johnjay and Rich, but this year's installment of KZZP's Phooson looks to be the greatest collection of talent ever. Sure, the concert has abandoned its original mission of bringing music to the gap between Phoenix and Tucson (get it? that's why it's called Phooson) and set up shop at an amphitheater in Phoenix. But when you look at the lineup, you'll realize that Casa Grande—the little town smack in the middle of the two bigger cities—couldn't have handled this much star power. More »

What's a bigger sign of the Pussycat Dolls' desperation: The fact that there's already a third single from their quickly fading new album, the "Big Girls Don't Cry"-like weeper "I Hate This Part" (in which alpha Doll Nicole Scherzinger tries to go the Serious Sad Singer Playing Piano On A Beach route, I guess to confuse fans of sensitive-dude bands); or Scherzinger's assertion that Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin would make a great addition to the group because "she seems like a headstrong woman, a tough chick. And she's hot." What, no mention of Palin's flute prowess, Nicole? I mean, it's not like you're going to let her sing. [YouTube / Huffington Post]

videodrone

Missy Elliott Makes Me Sad

The new single by the Pussycat Dolls, the listless "Whatcha Think About That," features a few cameos by Missy Elliott, who during her bits in the video is forced to mumble inane lines like "Tonight I’m goin out and ain’t comin back / You ain’t gonna get no more pussycat" while standing in close proximity to Nicole Scherzinger and her handmaidens shaking their asses to the track, which sounds kind of like a dessicated take on Whitney Houston's "I'm Your Baby Tonight." Only this time, instead of Whitney belting out every note, we get Scherzinger whinging and preening as Missy drops anemic verses like "Up in the club its just me and my girls / Play like Katy Perry kissin on girls." Sigh. Missy. Katy Perry references and rhyming "girls" with "girls"? Maybe you should get back together with Timbaland—surely whatever he thinks up for you could cause a spark of some sort, right? Oh, wait. [Dailymotion]

Yesterday's initial SoundScan results had the Pussycat Dolls' second album, Doll Domination, coming in at No. 5 with sales just under the 74,000 mark—and a first-week tally that was just 400 copies shy of the mark achieved by the No. 4 album, Kings Of Leon's Only By The Night. But yesterday evening, through a miracle of album sales, the folks at SoundScan found 5,000 album sales under a couch in their offices and granted the Pussycat Dolls a higher chart position than the scruffy rock revivalists. Hands up if you think this hasty revision for one of Interscope's most high-priority acts sounds a little fishy? Especially since it seems to be the only alteration to the chart that resulted in a top 20 act's chart position flipping? (Sales for TV On The Radio's Dear Science were revised upward by some 2,000 units, but that didn't result in the album moving out of the No. 12 spot.) [Billboard]

friday chart preview

Americans Apparently Not Fooled By The Stealth Sorta-Release Of "Her Name Is Nicole"


danielgibson77: pussycat dolls might not make the top 5 albums this week
mauraatidolator: no way
mauraatidolator: haahahahaha
mauraatidolator: oh schadenfreude.
danielgibson77: metallica, ne-yo, demi lovato, kings of leon, then jazmine sullivan and PCD fighting for 5th.
mauraatidolator: nice
mauraatidolator: NICE
mauraatidolator: hahaha
mauraatidolator: oh that restores my faith in the world
mauraatidolator: not the kings of leon bit so much

In case you're wondering, the rest of the top 10 will apparently consist of Joe, Kid Rock, Lil Wayne, and Young Jeezy. [HITS Daily Double]


the last word

The Pussycat Dolls Star In "Will It Blend?"

From time to time, we like to round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. After the jump, we look at the critical reaction to the new album by Nicole Scherzinger the Pussycat Dolls, Doll Domination. More »

sorta-upcoming releases

"Her Name Is Nicole" Exists, Sort Of

Only Nicole Scherzinger's floptastic solo debut has been rebranded as a Pussycat Dolls album, and retitled Doll Domination, and given a release date of tomorrow! From two writeups of Domination that hit newsstands today: "Not that the Pussycat Dolls are turning realistic. They are, after all, a burlesque dance troupe that was recast as a vocal group featuring Nicole Scherzinger. On the album she is credited with 'all lead and background vocals,' with the other four Dolls providing 'additional' vocals." ... "Scherzinger's solo album was delayed after single 'Baby Love' and other club and download tracks failed to produce sufficient buzz. Four songs originally intended for that project are on Domination." Not that I was wholly fooled by the other four Dolls finally getting identities of sorts, but surely Scherzinger must be wondering why she can only catch a break from the public if she's operating under the umbrella of Robin Antin? [NYT / USA Today]

DRUDGE SIREN THIS JUST IN: Some of those brand name-drops in popular songs and their attached videos may be the result of—wait for it—paid endorsement deals! And among the offending artists may be those paragons of musical integrity known as the Pussycat Dolls! Is there anything left to believe in, you guys? Aside from the pretty undeniable truth that arguments about "selling out" are never going to fail to cause mock outrage from certain quarters, even when the "artists" who are being "compromised" were already far into the everything-must-go phase of their career? [Listening Post]

silver linings

Hey, There's At Least One Sorta-Good Thing About The New Pussycat Dolls Record

Over the weekend, the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination leaked, and normally such an occasion would result in a writeup, or at least a half-hearted spin through it, but readers, I have to cry uncle. Normally I would bite the bullet, grit my teeth, etc., but the damn thing is 16 tracks long, and that's before you tack on the seven-track "bonus EP," which—I am not kidding—includes the Dolls' "interpretation" of "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps." I can't do it. Twenty-three tracks? Is this Interscope's attempt at punishing us for not embracing Her Name Is Nicole? Anyway, all that extra room does have one notable result: The four non-Scherzinger members of the dancing-lady collective are each allowed to take a turn in front of the microphone, albeit on the bonus EP. And one of the songs chosen will at the very least benefit a songwriter whose work I've liked in the past, even if the chosen Doll's take on the song in question does, to put it charitably, leave something to be desired. More »

rock-critically correct

"Blender"'s Purr Seems A Bit Muted These Days

Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe, and Spin are given a once-over by a writer who's contributed to many of those magazines, as well as a few others! In this installment, he looks at the new issue of Blender: More »

putting the pseudo in pseudo-event

Los Angeles "Times" Writers' Wits Fall Victim To The Power Of Scherzinger

For better or worse, no one covers the innumerable amount of awards given to producers of cultural product than the Los Angeles Times, and this weekend, two of their bloggers made their predictions for Video Of The Year award at this Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards. However, some sort of gas must have been leaking into the Times' cubicle farm that day, since both of them picked the Pussycat Dolls' scaffolding-happy clip for "When I Grow Up" to pick up the top prize. More »

putting the pseudo in pseudo-event

The Video Music Awards' Technical Nominations: Apparently, Getting The Pussycat Dolls To Dance In Sync Is A Crowning Achievement


The technical categories for this year's Video Music Awards—Best Choreography, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Special Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction—were announced today, and the big winner, inexplicably, is the Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up," which received nods for Choreography, Direction, Cinematography, and Art Direction. Why five minutes of dayglo-framed midriffs and Nicole Scherzinger making stupid faces set to some of the most grating beats to come out of Darkchild's studio laboratory is worthy of not just attention, but accolades, is an utter mystery to me. Perhaps someone on the nominating committee was a big fan of "Cold Hearted," and appreciates the Dolls—and director Joseph Kahn's—efforts to bring back "sexy" synchronized dancing on scaffolding? [Full list of nominees]

how your sausage gets made

Pussycat Dolls' Marketing Plan Shows Just How Far Interscope Will Go To Make People Care About Nicole Scherzinger

A Pussycat Dolls fansite got its hands on what appears to be a North American marketing plan for the group's next album, Doll Domination, and it's somewhat interesting reading, if only because it shows how major record labels can, when they're arsed to, flex their muscle enough to force marginally talented, scantily clad women into every nook and cranny of the public sphere: gym commercials, video games, airplane entertainment, Maxim. Of special note to certain Idolator readers is the claim that the five ladies are going to adorn the cover of the next Blender, a little less than a year after the mag took a crack at making people believe lead Doll Nicole Scherzinger's solo career was worth paying attention to. Anyway, your list of media outlets and public places to approach with caution after the jump. More »

putting the pseudo in pseudo-event

We Live In A World Where A Video By The Pussycat Dolls Can Be Considered As A Possible "Best Video Of The Year"

MTV announced two more slates of Video Music Awards nominations today, and while the nominees for Best Rock Video have a few OK contenders among them (Fall Out Boy's "Beat It" cover, Paramore's "crushcrushcrush"), a couple of the contenders for Video Of The Year—you know, the big prize—are worthy of a head-scratch or two. Sure, I can buy the idea of Britney Spears' road to redemption culminating with her winning a moonman for her self-mocking "Piece Of Me" clip. And the Jonas Brothers' "Burnin' Up" isn't groundbreaking, but those kids sure do know how to mobilize their fanbase. But the other three videos in the category would surely be considered also-rans in any other year. You've got Chris Brown's stealth gum ad "Forever"; the Ting Tings' "Shut Up And Let Me Go," which looks like a film-school synthesis between the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" and that Justice clip that got nominated last year; and the Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up," which is such a steaming piece of all-around garbage that I have to think there was some sort of coordinated street-team effort by Interscope to fool people into thinking that Nicole Scherzinger was still worthy of attention. All five clips are after the jump, so you can judge for yourself. More »

art?

The Other Four Pussycat Dolls Are Finally Given Identifying Marks


The Pussycat Dolls' follow-up to the grating "When I Grow Up" is "Out Of This Club," a tender ballad about hooking up after last call that features R. Kelly. What does it sound like? Think "'Love In This Club' remixed for the purposes of soundtracking a particularly soft-focused ad for feminine hygiene products." [Music Is The Heart Of Our Soul]