If you think too hard about the premise of Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious, your head might collapse from the weight of how contrived the whole thing is. The show's purpose is to put together a pre-fabricated girl group and the show itself is the spin-off of a reality program which had the purpose of finding the latest addition to another pre-fabricated girl group that was based on a burlesque act. Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious is so many steps removed from an initial spark of creativity, it's hard to really get too excited about it.

Nevertheless, the thing that makes any show like this interesting enough to still tune in are the personalities of the contestants involved. A good batch of reality contestants can turn an absurd premise into a surprise hit (case in point: Rock of Love), a bad or merely ho-hum batch can mean certain doom for another ridiculous concept (case in point: Pirate Master).

So with our first look at Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious, we can start to see which girls might make this a show worth tuning in for, and which ones should be exiting stage left quickly or else The CW will instead be seeing viewers depart. In short: on last night episode, who was Girlicious?

I can't recall or track down the official Robin Antin definition of “Girlicious,” but based on her overall…oeuvre, I guess you'd call it, it has something to do with sassy AND sexy “female empowerment.” (I am putting it in quotes because this is my column and I don't really define “female empowerment” as being booty-popping and boa-swishing. I don't think they're mutually exclusively, either, but I think you need a little more to really start throwing that term around.)

At this point in the competition, there are too many girls running around to really get a sense of their real singing and dancing chops, but in the short bits we saw, there are a few girls who stood out as having at least some talent – at least enough to be developed – and that little extra spark that makes them stand out. So here are a few early picks for the Most Girlicious of last night's episode:


Tiffanie was called out by Ron Fair as having star power, and based on her performance and her appearance in the pre-show interview clips, she really seemed to have that elusive something. Alexis, also part of the same group, seemed to have that Girlicious flair, good stage presence and a cute style. Jenna might have been stuck in a wheelchair but based on her edit in the episode, I think we'll be seeing more of her over coming weeks. I originally thought that Ilisa seemed a little out-of-step with Robin Antin's stated aim of creating a hip-hop/urban group, but after seeing her in action, I think that actually her spunkiness is appealing and her unique look might work in her favor.


Charlotte was a little bit of a ho-hum presence in the pre-show interviews, and her performance in the episode didn't undo that initial first impression. I think she would be a great addition to the show for the purpose of drama generation, but as a performer, she really didn't have It. Her fellow contestant Kristin also seemed to be a little lacking in the stage presence department.

Keisha was eliminated, and while I can agree that her vocals were weak, I'm not including her on the list of least Girlicious because I still thought her personality and moves were still more interesting that than the others.

What do you think?

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CW)