Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious

Mariela Arteaga impressed the judges with her sexy and creative dance routine last week on The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll and ended up winning the challenge that kept her safe from elimination.  Last night however, Mariela became the fourth doll eliminated from the competition.  Mariela took some time to talk to BuddyTV earlier today about what she learned from the experience, her thoughts about last night, and what we can expect to see from her in the very near future.

BuddyTV:  What were you doing before the show and can tell us what inspired you to try out to be the next Doll?

Mariela:  Well, before the competition I’d recently finished up school and I was you know, just going to different auditions and stuff and demanding job after job, you know with the dancing thing and basically I was just going back and forth deciding, do I want to keep pursuing the dancing or do I want to go and pursue my career as far as education and what I got my degree in or whatever.  I heard about the competition and basically I just decided, you know what, I think I could do that.  I mean I’ve seen Pussycat Dolls, I’ve heard their songs, and there’s nothing about that group that I don’t think is not me.  Still to this day, even with the elimination and everything, I still think that I fit into that group like a glove.

You know last week you impressed the judges with your sexy and creative dance routine and you ended up winning the challenge that kept you safe from elimination.  Do you feel like you’re stronger as a dancer or as a singer?  And what do you think ultimately the judges are really looking for?

Um, I think that as far as myself, I’m strong in both.  Obviously I’m stronger in dancing because I’ve been trained in dancing all my life.  It’s my passion; it’s in my blood.  But the singing thing is something new to me.  I’m glad that I did this competition because it helped me realize that I had a voice in me and now I’m just gonna’ go ahead and develop it further.  I’m gonna’ get into the vocal lessons and all that stuff and I’m gonna’, you know, head forward with it basically.

Let’s talk about your trip to Las Vegas.  What was that experience like for you?

It was so much fun traveling to Vegas.  I loved it.  I loved being on the bus and I loved being slammed around while we were learning the routine, it was just so much fun.  I love road trips man.  I live in Miami.  I’m about four hours away, depending on how fast you drive, from Orlando and I love taking road trips and going to Disney (World).  So taking a road trip to Vegas was so much fun.  I love Sin City.

How did you feel about your performance last night? Did you agree with the judge’s feedback?  What were your thoughts when they decided that you would be going home?

Honestly, I was very surprised actually with last night’s performance.  I didn’t think it was as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I was very nervous to watch the episode because of course I’m on stage and I’m singing it but I never really heard it, like a play back of it, so I didn’t know how it was gonna’ look.  And I was pleasantly surprised because I thought I was gonna’ look like an a-hole, I guess you could say, on TV, and I didn’t look like too much of a jerk, thank goodness.  But um, I agree with the judges as far as it just did not seem like it was coming from the heart because I felt awkward singing that song.  That song was not me and I would have never chosen that song for myself you know, so if it didn’t sound like it was coming from the heart, it’s because it wasn’t coming from the heart.  I felt awkward and I think that’s what came out in the performance.

Now that you’ve been able to watch the show on TV, are there certain things you wish they would have shown about you on TV that they didn’t?

Um, you know what I wish that they would have shown like more of the dancing actually.  Like last week when I won that challenge, they showed such a small clip of the dancing that I was like, “Man, that was a hot dance!”  And I was really upset actually, they showed Anastacia last week giving some really nice comments about someone’s dancing and they made it seem like she was talking to Sisely, and she wasn’t, she was talking about me.  And I was like, “Hello, give my dancing credit.”  You know she was saying some really nice things and I wish that I would have gotten the credit for it.  Why give it to Sisely?  They made her look stupid because Sisely wasn’t doing great and yet here Anastasia’s talking all these nice things about her so I wish they would have just showed that.  And there was some other stuff that you can see online.  Like there was a ballet teacher that came in and a hip-hop teacher that came in to teach us some routines, you know.  I wish they would’ve shown some of that because it was just, you know, it was really hot. So you know, I have no control over that, so it is what it is.

Do you have any predictions on who you think will win this competition ultimately?

Um, you know what, the way it’s been going it seems like the more dramatic you are the further you get, so definitely it’s gonna’ be somebody dramatic.  I mean, I don’t know who is gonna’ win because there’s not anybody in the competition that I think stands out, you know, that outshines someone completely.  Everyone is good at singing, good at dancing, and has their own style, so I don’t know which way this competition is gonna’ go.  I just wish everyone in the competition luck though.

So what are your plans now that you’re off the show?

My plans are to pursue my career and just you know overall performing.  I want to sing, I want to dance, I want to act, I want to host, and I want to do anything and everything you know.  I just, I like being on stage, I like being in front of the camera.  This competition just solidifies the fact that I need to perform.  I mean it’s in me, I have a fire burning inside of me and I don’t want my talent to go to waste man.  I’m good at what I do and I want to just head forward and I want to perform my butt off.

Do you have any final thoughts either about last night or about the show in general?

I just want to say, just keep your eye, keep your eye out for Mariela.  I’m definitely not gonna’ stop here, this is only the beginning.  I’m so excited, I can already tell people that there are certain things that I’m working on right now.  I don’t want to talk much about it because I don’t want to jinx myself.  You know until I seal the deal, I don’t like talking about things, so just know that this is not the last that you’ll see of me and you have not seen the best of me at all!  That show did not show the best of me, so don’t ever think that that’s all that I have to offer.  So keep your eye out because Mariela is coming through.

(Interview conducted by Royce Yuen)