Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious is the second and final season of Pussycat Dolls Present that premiered on February 18, 2008 on The CW, and aired for a total of eight weeks. It was a joint venture between Ken Mok's 10x10 Entertainment, Pussycat LLC, Interscope A&M Records, Wonderland Sound and Vision, and Warner Horizon Television.
The show was filmed in the summer of 2007, and followed aspiring female singers/dancers competing in order to claim their spots to become part of the girl group Girlicious. Girlicious is the creation of Robin Antin, creator of The Pussycat Dolls, who in the first season was searching for the next doll, but was now searching for an entirely new pop group by the name Girlicious. Girlicious, unlike the Pussycat Dolls, was a more urbanized, all female trio. This is the format for the second season of the Pussycat Dolls Present series, focusing mostly on female dancers/singers, looking for fame in the music industry. This season features 15 young women competing for the three slots open. The contestants are: Alexis Pelekanos, Carrie Jones, Cassandra Porter, Charlotte Benesch, Charlye Nichols, Chrystina Sayers, Ilisa Juried, Jamie Lee Ruiz, Jenna Artzer, Keisha Henry, Kristin McCallum-Vlaze, Megan Dupre, Natalie Mejia, Nichole Cordova and Tiffanie Anderson.
The album was released on August 12, 2008 and their first single, "Like Me" premiered on April 23 right after the finale of the series. The same day, "Stupid Shit" was released.After pictures of the Stupid Shit and Like Me videos were released, fans could now speculate that the winners were: Tiffanie Anderson, Chrystina Sayers, Natalie Mejia, and Nichole Cordova. Pussycat Dolls Present Girlicious: Meet the Contestants A third season of Pussycat Dolls Present was planned but was cancelled due to low ratings.
Finalists Name Age Hometown Outcome Charlotte Benesch 20 Washington, D.C. Eliminated in Episode 1 Kristin McCallum-Vlaze 24 Portland, Oregon Eliminated in Episode 1 Keisha Henry 22 North Hollywood, California Eliminated in Episode 1 Megan Dupre 18 Sunset, Louisiana Eliminated in Episode 2 Alexis Pelekanos 22 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Eliminated in Episode 3 Cassandra Porter 23 Aurora, Illinois Eliminated in Episode 4 Jamie Lee Ruiz 21 Miami, Florida Eliminated in Episode 5 Ilisa Juried 19 Palm Beach, Florida Eliminated in Episode 5 Jenna Artzer 18 Thousand Oaks, California Eliminated in Episode 6 Carrie Jones 25 Fairfield, Illinois Eliminated in Episode 8 Charlye Nichols 19 Baytown, Texas Eliminated in Episode 10 Tiffanie Anderson 18 Los Angeles, California Qualified Natalie Mejia 19 Diamond Bar, California Qualified Chrystina Sayers 20 San Diego, California Qualified Nichole Cordova 18 Houston, Texas Qualified
Makeovers Jamie: Dyed auburn and orange highlights Charlye: Bangs added, extended Carrie: Bangs added, dyed whiter platinum blonde Tiffanie: Trimmed, sidebangs added Natalie: Straightened, dyed chestnut Chrystina: Extended, trimmed Nichole: Yellow blonde extensions added Jenna: Dyed darker and chestnut highlights Ilisa: Trimmed and had shine added Cassandra: Edgier cut and brown highlights
Elimination chart Colour key –Contestant was team captain that week. –Contestant is immune from elimination. –Contestant won a prize but did not win immunity. –Contestant was part of a non-elimination bottom two. –Contestant was eliminated. –Contestant qualified for Girlicious
+ Robin Antin's Call-Out Order Order 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 1 Tiffanie Jenna Natalie Chrystina Chrystina Tiffanie Charlye Natalie Nichole 2 Alexis Charlye Charlye Jenna Charlye Carrie Nichole Tiffanie Tiffanie 3 Megan Chrystina Tiffanie Tiffanie Carrie Charlye Tiffanie NicholeNatalie 4 Jamie Carrie Carrie Carrie Nichole Nichole Chrystina Chrystina Chrystina 5JennaNichole Jamie Charlye Tiffanie Natalie Natalie Charlye Charlye 6 Charlye Natalie Cassandra Nichole Natalie Chrystina Carrie 7 Chrystina Ilisa Ilisa Natalie Jenna Jenna Eliminated (Episode 6) 8 Nichole Tiffanie Jenna Ilisa Ilisa Eliminated (Episode 5) 9 Cassandra Alexis Nichole Jamie Jamie Eliminated (Episode 5) 10 Ilisa Jamie Chrystina Cassandra Eliminated (Episode 4) 11 Natalie Cassandra Alexis Eliminated (Episode 3) 12 Carrie Megan Eliminated (Episode 2) 13 Keisha Eliminated (Episode 1) 14 Kristin Eliminated (Episode 1) 15 Charlotte Eliminated (Episode 1)
Notes: On Week 1 the contestants were called by groups except for the last six who were called individually. On Weeks 2 and 4 they were called by groups, with the weakest group up for elimination and on Weeks 3 and 5 they were all called together except for the immunity winner (called first) and the bottom four. Afterwards things got back to the bottom two system. On Week 3 Natalie was called out by Mark McGrath but not by Robin. On Week 6 Jenna was called and then eliminated, Chrystina wasn't called at all. In the finale, Robin called the first two winners, then Charlye who was eliminated and finally surprised Natalie and Chrystina by telling them they would both be in the group. On Week 5 Charlye and Chrystina were rewarded a Hello Kitty diamond necklace for their performance on the challenge, on Week 6 Charlye was given an extra vocal session by Kenn Hicks and on Week 9 Natalie only won to have her Extra promo aired, not immunity. Week 7 is a recap episode. On Week 5 two contestants were planned to be sent home, while on Week 9 the judges couldn't agree on whom to send home and kept all 5 girls.
Performances
Episode 1: Let's Get Girlicious
After some bonding where Keisha reveals herself to be a lesbian, Charlye that her father died and Cassandra shows the girls her tattoo, the 15 semi-finalists are told that they must pick one song each by a pre-selected group of three. The results are as follows:
+ Artist Group Song Results Tiffanie Anderson 1 "Tainted Love" Safe Alexis Pelekanos Safe Megan Dupre Safe Keisha Henry 2 "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" Eliminated Ilisa Juried Safe Carrie Jones Bottom 4 Jamie Lee Ruiz 3 "Where Did Our Love Go" Safe Jenna Artzer Safe Charlye Nichols Safe Chrystina Sayers 4 "Right Now" Safe Nichole Cordova Safe Cassandra Porter Safe Charlotte Benesch 5 "We Got the Beat" Eliminated Natalie Mejia Safe Kristin McCallum-Vlaze Eliminated
The girls practice and Keisha's vocal short-comings are highlighted. Charlotte and Natalie have an argument, when Natalie doesn't lend Charlotte a pair of boots. The girls are taken to the Tom Tom club. At the club, the girls perform karaoke and both Ilisa and Carrie impress the judges. Back at home, Jenna is revealed to have a ruptured cyst and is taken to the emergency room. She then spends the rest of rehearsal in a wheelchair, much to Robin's astonishment. In the final performance, Group 2 and 5 are deemed the worst but Ilisa, Natalie and then Carrie are spared, narrowing the group to 12 finalists.
Episode 2: Confidence
The girls move into the house and Chrystina and Natalie separate themselves from the rest and gossip. During vocal rehearsals of the *NSYNC group, former *NSYNC member JC Chasez surprised the girls and gave advice about being in a group. The girls are taught about confidence and learn that their song assignments will be as follows:
+ Artist Group Song Results Nichole Cordova 1 "Holiday" Safe Natalie Mejia Safe Tiffanie Anderson Safe Ilisa Juried Safe Megan Dupre 2 "...Baby One More Time" Eliminated Cassandra Porter Bottom 2 Alexis Pelekanos Safe Jamie Lee Ruiz Safe Jenna Artzer 3 "Tearin' Up My Heart" Safe Charlye Nichols Safe Chrystina Sayers Safe Carrie Jones Safe
They are then taken to a baseball game where they learn that their challenge will be to sing the national anthem in front of the audience. Only one group will sing it though and the best individual in that group will be safe from elimination at this week's performance. After a first check, the group made up of Carrie, Charlye, Jenna and Chrystina is selected to sing The National Anthem. Carrie wins immunity for being the best overall. Back at home Natalie is confronted by her teammates for not being confident at the challenge, bringing her to tears so she calls her mom who encourages her to bring her confidence up. At the final performance, "Baby One More Time" is unanimously deemed the worst and Megan and Cassandra land in the bottom two. In the end, Megan is eliminated for being too pompous.
Episode 3: Charisma
This week is about charisma. Robin selects Carrie, Chrystina and Charlye as team leaders and Ilisa is the last to be picked. The song assignments are as follows:
+ Artist Group Song Results Charlye Nichols 1 "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" Safe Tiffanie Anderson Safe Nichole Cordova Safe Carrie Jones 2 "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" Safe Jamie Lee Ruiz Safe Alexis Pelekanos Eliminated Cassandra Porter Safe Chrystina Sayers 3 "Respect" Bottom 2 Natalie Mejia Safe Jenna Artzer Safe Ilisa Juried Safe
Ilisa struggles with not having a place in the competition. Later the girls are taken to a listening party where they meet Nicole from The Pussycat Dolls and hear her new solo album. Then, the girls perform "I Don't Need a Man" in front of critical fans in their groups. The fans liked Nichole, Jamie, Ilisa and Natalie. Natalie wins immunity for receiving the most votes. Back at the house, Ilisa tells the girls about her story of living with a heart defect and wanting to inspire people with her music. Meanwhile, Tiffanie gets criticism for being too over the top, exaggerating her voice.
During the final performance, the judges deem all the groups as good and Chrystina lands in the bottom two with Alexis who is eliminated for not standing out enough.
Episode 4: Style
The girls learn that this week is about style and are given the following song assignments:
+ Artist Group Song Results Charlye Nichols 1 "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" Safe Natalie Mejia Safe Nichole Cordova Safe Jamie Lee Ruiz 2 "Heart of Glass" Bottom 2 Ilisa Juried Safe Cassandra Porter Eliminated Chrystina Sayers 3 "Dim All the Lights" Safe Tiffanie Anderson Safe Jenna Artzer Safe Carrie Jones Safe
Cassandra begins to freak out because the song is very hard to sing and she doesn't have the vocals for it. The girls all get makeovers and Jamie struggles with her red hair, while Natalie utters her infamous quote: Beauty is a talent. This week both Chrystina and Jenna struggle with the fact that they were among the last called out by Robin the week before but Robin tells them they have to learn how to deal with constructive criticism. Jenna is also criticized by the other girls for being too lazy. The challenge involves the girls working their new makeover for a staged red carpet for In Touch Weekly magazine which Nichole wins. At the performance, Jamie, Ilisa, and Cassandra's group is deemed the worst and despite Ron stating that they should eliminate Jamie for her attitude, a teary eyed Robin eliminates Cassandra for not having vocals that are strong enough in an elimination that is reminiscent of Mariela's from the previous season.
Episode 5: Kitchen Confrontation / Sexiness
This week's theme is sexiness and Robin raises the stakes by revealing that two girls will go home, making Jamie afraid since she has now to gain two places in the call out. The song assignments are as follows:
+ Artist Group Song Results Chrystina Sayers 1 "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" Safe Nichole Cordova Safe Jenna Artzer Bottom 3 Carrie Jones 2 "Piece of My Heart" Safe Ilisa Juried Eliminated Tiffanie Anderson Safe Jamie Lee Ruiz 3 "I Want You to Want Me" Eliminated Natalie Mejia Safe Charlye Nichols Safe