Here, we posed the question of what Ziva (Cote de Pablo) was doing in a Moroccan bar on the season premiere of NCIS.  The release of some pictures show Ziva in a body-hugging, backless number singing, it seems, in a dark bar.  Previously, NCIS executive producer Shane Brennan assured fans that this question will be answered in the premiere.  In a recent interview, de Pablo divulged that it was the whole singing-in-a-smoky-Moroccan-bar idea was a brainchild of Brennan himself.

Cote de Pablo Glams up for 'NCIS' Premiere

“They’ve been toying with the idea for maybe two years of having Zita sing,” said de Pablo.  “From the beginning, I said, ‘No way.’ I think literally you’d be jumping the shark.  What else do we have left here? Let’s make the character tap dance and sing … Then Shane (Brennan) clearly put it in a way I couldn’t resist.”

Few are aware that prior to being on NCIS and television, de Pablo was a Broadway performer.  She did all the singing parts in the scene.

As for the sleek dress and the make-up and the hair, de Pablo, 28, knows very well how the ensemble is worlds away from the normal low-maintenance, T-shirt, cargos, ponytail Ziva usually finds herself in.  In the end, however, she said it wasn’t really that difficult undergoing that short transformation.

“On this particular thing, getting into the dress was not such a big deal, but I had to be taped onto it because it was such a sexy dress that if I made the wrong move, it could fall and parts of my body could be revealed.”

And on hindsight, the process it took for her to get into her new look didn’t really take that long.

“We added a dress.  We heightened the eyes a little bit.  They gave me sultry, jazz music to sing along to, and that in itself is such a different thing for the character.”

-Glenn L. Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: People
(Image Courtesy of CBS)

Glenn Diaz

Staff Writer, BuddyTV