Cassandra arguably had the greatest dance skills of any contestant on Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious, but unfortunately that wasn't enough to keep her on the show.  The judges came down on her for having unpolished vocals during her performance of Blondie's "Heart of Glass," and ultimately decided to take her feather boa away and send her home.  We had a chance to sit down with Cassandra today and talk about the drama in the loft, the footage that got left on the cutting room floor, and what she really thought of the makeover that Robin Antin's crew gave her.

Read on for the complete mp3 and transcript of the interview.

Hey, this is Don from BuddyTV, and today I'm talking to Cassandra from Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.  For the first question, is performing something you've always been interested in or is this something new to you?

Oh, performing has always been in my blood.  Apparently when I was tiny my dad once locked me in a bathroom because I was singing and dancing in front of the mirror.  He thought he could check me on his own and it didn't work out.  So yes, performing has definitely been in my blood since I was like five.


On the show last night, we saw the girls get their makeovers and some of them were pretty upset about it.  Did you like your makeover?  Did you keep it after the show?

I loved my makeover.  I haven't really done a good job of maintaining it, just because I'm a bit of a starving artist and it takes time, effort, and money to keep getting the highlights retouched and everything.  But I loved my makeover on the show, and I definitely learned a lot about makeup for example, because I don't wear a lot of it normally.  They taught me a lot, so I've been trying to maintain that as much, at least when I go out.


What was the vibe like living in the loft?  We saw some drama on the show, but were you involved in any of that?

No, I wasn't involved in the drama.  It was kind of funny, because as I was watching the show I was like, "Really, that happened?  I didn't know that happened!  Where was I?"  I'm not very big on drama.  I know a lot of people, for example my friends and family, have been asking me, "How did you deal with Natalie when she did this or that?"  Honestly, I kind of heard about stuff she was pulling through the grapevine, so I kind of went, "You know what?  I know about as much as I need to know about you.  I don't need to know you.  I don't need to get close to you."  So I just kind of stayed away.


The judges seemed to come down on you because they felt you had trouble with your vocals.  Did you think that was fair or do you think you should have had more time to work on that?

No, I think that was a very fair thing that they did.  It's a competition, and they only have 10 weeks to put together this group, so it was a very quick process of elimination.  They didn't really have the time to work on my vocals and all that good stuff.  Some of these girls have been doing that.  They've been training their voices since they were little, so you can't really slow down the group for one person.  I think that's very fair to say that my vocals were not the best, but again, I never claimed to be a singer.  I have never had any vocal training, so I'm very proud of myself though as far as I got.  To be in the top 10 without any vocal training?  I feel very proud of myself and I do feel very accomplished.


Did you have any problems with the editing of the show?  Was there anything cut out that you thought should have been in there?

I'm really sad that they didn't put a lot of the fun stuff that happened.  I understand that it's reality TV and we have to have the drama and all that good stuff.  But for example, as soon as we got into the house, Ilisa discovered the piano and she ended up playing a song that she had written herself and composed.  She was singing it also, and it was gorgeous.  It made me want to dance so bad, so I did.  I got up and I improved to her song, and some of the girls were watching and were like, "Oh my God, that was gorgeous!" Between her singing and my dancing, it was a really nice moment.  I kind of wish they had kept that in.

Also, Charlye and Tiffanie, those girls are crazy.  We ended up having a "Charlye Springer Show."  Charlye was the host, and Tiffanie came out in this godforsaken wig and these cheetah pants with the swimsuit on top of it, and she was like, "Aw yeah, I work the street for my money, and I got my baby's daddy, and blah blah blah."  It was hilarious and it was really fun.


From what you know of the girls, who do you think will make it to the finals?

I am going to say that Charlye would be a great asset to the group.  I would love to see Jamie make it into the group.  I've gotta root for Jamie, because me and her were kind of in the same boat.  We're both dancers who don't really sing, so I gotta root for her.  I gotta hope she's gonna get her vocals together and make it to the very end.  Then the last person, I'd probably say either Nichole or Jenna.


What's in the future for you?  Are you going to pursue singing and dancing, or just dancing from now on?

I'm currently an apprentice with a dance group here in Chicago, a dance company called River North in Chicago.  It's funny because it's the same company that very first inspired me to dance to begin with.  I'm really, really excited about that, and there is some opening positions, so I'm hoping that that will be my future and that I will be able to dance alongside them in that company.  I'm also teaching a lot of dance in the suburbs and different areas, five, sometimes seven days a week.  I'm enjoying that.  I'm enjoying being part of the company.  I'm enjoying being a teacher as well as a friend to these kids.  It's kind of fun to listen to them go, "I saw you on TV!"  It's kind of fun, I like it.  I'm very happy right now.

- Interview conducted by Don Williams
(Image courtesy of the CW)