Nicole Scherzinger

• Genre: Contemporary R&B
• Nicole Scherzinger Website

About

It's kind of hard not to hate Nicole Scherzinger. After all, she's not only the drop-dead gorgeous leader of the burlesque-troupe-turned-pop-group Pussycat Dolls, she's now well on her way to a successful solo career. And by the way, this Doll can sing. But before you go all schadenfreude on us, hear this: Ms. Don't Cha worked hard to get this hot. The credit for her good looks goes to her Filipino father and Hawaiian-Russian mother, but everything else is all Nicole. When her folks split, she moved with her mom from Honolulu (her birthplace) to Louisville, Kentucky, where she went to a performing arts high school. After a brief stint majoring in theater and dance in college, Scherzinger went on to sing back-up for Days of the New before becoming a contestant on the WB's Popstars in 2001. Scherzinger became the lead singer for Eden's Crush, the group that came out of that show. After first their label and then the group itself folded, she auditioned for the Pussycat Dolls, which were reinventing themselves as a pop/R&B group. Easily the Dolls' standout star, Scherzinger earned lead vocal and songwriting credits on the group's debut before going on to record her own solo debut in 2007.

- Rachel Devitt