“I wrote a song with my friend Tim Rice-Oxley from Keane,” Nicole remembers, “and it's called American Girl and the lyrics are: “growing up with soul music in my veins and country music in my brain”
You may think you know the real Nicole Scherzinger, but chances are you don't. Not really. Maybe you knew her as the figurehead of one of the biggest-selling girl bands of the last decade, the Pussycat Dolls. Maybe you're one of the millions of people who brought their debut, worldwide smash, Don't Cha, or When I Grow Up, or Buttons, or Jai Ho, or, well, the list goes on. Perhaps you followed her on US X Factor and then became enraptured with her on the UK version last year. Maybe you helped get her heartbreak anthem Don't Hold Your Breath to Number One in the UK, the follow-up to her debut, RedOne-produced solo single Poison (another massive smash) and the second single from her Top Ten album, Killer Love. Maybe this is the Nicole Scherzinger you think you know. Which ever one it is, the reality is far more interesting because Nicole isn't your typical American superstar: she's so much more than that.
Born Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nicole wasn't thrust into showbusiness. “Other than my grandma, who sings on the ukelele, I don't have any stars or anything in my family,” she explains with a giggle. “I came from a very humble beginning. My dad was a welder, my mum had me when she was 18.” Her father was of Filipino descent, while her mother was of half-Hawaiian and half-Russian descent. Add to this blend the fact that the family soon moved to Louisville, Kentucky and you have an incredibly unique concoction. “I wrote a song with my friend Tim Rice-Oxley from Keane,” Nicole remembers, “and it's called American Girl and the lyrics are: “growing up with soul music in my veins and country music in my brain”. So basically being born of Hawaiian, Filipino, Russian descent, I think the soul was always there. I feel like it's made me not only well-rounded, but given me so much dimension, not only in my personality but in how I view life, how I hear music, how I sing – it's in everything. I get the best of both worlds.”
Her first brush with stardom on any level came during a fifth grade performance of her childhood hero Whitney Houston's The Greatest Love Of All. Her passion then lead to her being cast as an understudy in a seventh grade musical production. “I was the understudy for this guy and it wasn't until he didn't show up at the last minute that they made me go on. When I finished everyone was stood up and that was the first time I felt like 'wow, there must be something here for me'.” What that thing was, she assumed, was a nurturing of her love for musical theatre. “Obviously I wanted to be Whitney Houston growing up,” she laughs, “but because I came from a theatrical background I really loved musicals. I always saw myself going to New York and doing Broadway.” Luckily for the world of pop, Nicole's mum had other ideas and she convinced her daughter to audition for a TV show called Popstars, who were looking for the next big girl band. “My mum saw this commercial for a making of a girlband show. She said I had to audition and I was like 'mom, I'm in theatre, this isn't a Spice Girls thing I'm going after'. And she said 'just go, these bigwigs from Hollywood are coming down'. So I found out where the closest audition was, which was Chicago, and I drove for several hours and waited in line at 4am.”
The risk paid off and Nicole was part of Eden's Crush, who went on to tour America with the likes of *NSYNC and Jessica Simpson. It wasn't to last, however, and while for most that would have been the end of that, for Nicole this setback was transformed into a new beginning. “It brought me to Los Angeles at a time when I didn't have the means to get here,” she explains defiantly. “I was so young and that was a platform for the next level.” That next level was to become the lead singer in Pussycat Dolls, one of the most successful acts of the twenty-first century. Once again, this meant earning her place in the band the hard way with an audition in front of record industry titans Ron Fair and Jimmy Iovine. “I turned up, was so nervous and they were pretty much done with auditions,” she remembers. “It was a huge room and they wouldn't even let me take two steps – I was just stood at the door and they were like 'stay right there, just sing the song'. I did a song and then a dance that I'd prepared and the rest was history.”
From there she was in the band and as quickly as they'd been put together they then went on to dominate the charts across the world. Their 2005 debut single Don't Cha was Number One in nine countries, sold over 6 million copies worldwide and finished the year as one of the biggest-selling singles in America. This was followed by a further seven Top Ten singles in the UK alone. Suddenly, the band were everywhere. “It happened so fast and at such a grandiose level,” Nicole remembers, sounding almost out of breath at the thought of it. “We weren't even aware of it because we were so busy being in the bubble working. It just felt like we were - without really knowing it at the time - this invincible girl group. We were the new age of the girl group. We were edgy and we were funky and we were powerful. We were a force to be reckoned with. That was exciting to be a part of.”
After just five whirlwind years, two albums and numerous Top 10 singles the band split in 2010. For Nicole, there was never any doubt about what she would do next. She had to keep performing and making music: “I just love what I do. I just love music. I only know music and performing. It's that itch, it's that hunger, it's that hole that you have to fill. I don't have another choice. I don't have another job and this is what I'm best at. I have a vision for myself and I always have since I was a little girl and anything seems possible.” Her debut album, Killer Love – which saw her working with the likes of producers RedOne, The-Dream and Stargate, as well as collaboraions with 50 Cent, Sting and Enrique Iglesias – was the perfect vehicle for her to get back to her other true passion; performing on stage. “It's just electric. My high. It's what I feel like I was built for. I'm able to connect with people like in no other way.” This last statement may come as a surprise to anyone who witnessed the cavalcade of amazing that was Nicole Scherzinger on the UK version of The X Factor, but she's adamant that it's on stage that she really comes to life: “That's why I act like such a goofball on the show because I hate speaking and I hate hearing my voice, but when I sing that's when I feel it's a real connection.”
“I'm really fortunate that the Brits are just as bonkers as me,” she says of her ridiculously successful debut year as a judge on the show. “If they weren't than it could have gone all wrong. I think people are so used to this stereotype of me so when they see me they see a walking billboard of 'loosen up my buttons'. They don't realise that's the attitude in me. That I take on the life of the song, the attitude of the song. But in normal life, I'm a girl's girl, I'm a guy's girl, I'm a girl next door. I'm a goofball.” Not that she didn't work hard of course, often pulling six day weeks. In fact, all three of her acts made the final five and she had two acts in the final, becoming the first judge ever to achieve that feat.
The show also had an effect on her creativity, specifically on her forthcoming single Boomerang, the first to be taken from her will.i.am-produced second album. “It was a new year and it was fresh,” she says, practically beaming. “It felt energetic and it felt for me like a motivational song. I used to listen to this song whenever I was doubting myself or I had a bad day and the lyrics were everything to me. It's about bouncing back even stronger.” Like a flash of neon across a grey Monday morning sky, Boomerang – all fizzing synths, defiant lyrics and Nicole's effervescent vocals – sticks out like a beacon of empowerment. “I felt like, especially in the UK during that time of year after Christmas, who doesn't need something motivating and energising?” You can't say fairer than that.
Oh I remember, it is not featured in that video though. That video is made during the early HNIN sessions of the original album we all died for. She began to work with Keane later, before she returned to PCD.
Oh I remember, it is not featured in that video though. That video is made during the early HNIN sessions of the original album we all died for. She began to work with Keane later, before she returned to PCD.
So she worked with him later again? I thought they did together only one song - during HNIN era.
So she worked with him later again? I thought they did together only one song - during HNIN era.
No, it was recorded in the HNIN era, but since it had so many pushbacks, at one point she decided to go back to the studio. The song with Keane was not from the original recordings, but from later recordings after the first few pushbacks. So it is still HNIN era material, but not from the original HNIN sessions, if you get what I mean.
No, it was recorded in the HNIN era, but since it had so many pushbacks, at one point she decided to go back to the studio. The song with Keane was not from the original recordings, but from later recordings after the first few pushbacks. So it is still HNIN era material, but not from the original HNIN sessions, if you get what I mean.
Okay I had the idea to not let the base be completely dead, let's play some games.
This game is to create a tour setlist for a potential "Big Fat Lie tour".
But there are some rules what the setlist have to include:
RULES
The setlist should include the following singles: Poison, Don't Hold Your Breath, Right There, Your Love, On the Rocks, Run. Whatever U Like, Baby Love, Try With Me, Wet and Boomerang can be excluded.
You may include unreleased songs, but not more than 2 (Pretty also includes as one)
the setlist should include a minimum of 18 songs and a maximum of 22, exclusive possible interludes.
the maximum of PCD songs you can include is 4
you can only include 1 cover song, and two if you would do medley's like You Will Be Loved/How To Love
They use this "painted" mole as example, that even Nicole could use pro-active lol, and example of years ago, that she probably washed away after the videoshoot
Do you guys think she should take the role on Broadway?
That really is a great question. It's also hard to answer. Nicole has massive global appeal, yet, she also has the potential to become a massive Broadway beast.
Broadway, naturally, will open up many doors for her. In my opinion, later on this year/early next year is also going to be an exciting time to be on Broadway, as Jennifer Hudson is going to be making her Broadway debut, and who knows which other singers are going to follow suit. It could be a most fruitful opportunity/period for Nicole.
At the same time, I don't want her to shelve another album in the United States. "Run" still has a massive amount of potential and it was hardly promoted here in the US. It is too powerful of a song to not be revived once her West End duties come to an end. Also, I think that "Bang" has potential to be well-received by urban audiences. It'd be sad if it didn't see the light of day in the US and receive proper promotion, as it is a very solid album.
With that being said, a date has not been set for the Broadway revival. Prayerfully, she'll be able to re-start promoting "Run" in the US as soon as her West End run is complete, and then release 2 more singles (either of which would coincide with the album release) before Broadway, then actually do Broadway (which will bring her and her album publicity), and then release one more single after her possible Broadway run to end the album era, stateside (as far as releasing singles goes...not considering touring). I think that that would be a proper enough release (although, having no interruptions would be even more proper, but if something is going to interrupt your album era, then let it be Broadway, right?). She deserves a proper campaign so badly.
