G.R.L.s step up to depose Dolls
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G.R.L. has been put together by Pussycat Dolls creator Robin Antin.
Source: Supplied
ROBIN Antin has the Midas touch. The woman who created the Pussycat Dolls burlesque brand and then turned it into a wildly successful pop group has done it again.
Her latest girl group, simply titled G.R.L., may have started life as PCD replacements but are now hopeful of eclipsing their predecessors.
The five young women are no strangers to the trials and tribulations of the music industry. Their de facto leader, British singer Lauren Bennett, was the featured female artist on LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem and was tapped by CeeLo Green for his solo record.
She was already working with Antin on a Pussycat Dolls fitness DVD when the entrepreneur decided to form a new girl group.
It took two years to put G.R.L. together says singer Lauren Bennett. Picture: Splash
Source: Splash News Australia
Veteran dancer Paula Van Oppen, X Factor finalist Simone Battle, former child actor Natasha Slayton and Canadian Emmalyn Estrada, who released her debut single in 2009, were recruited.
“It took two years to put this group together,” Bennett says.
Estrada added: “When I came into the group, it felt so natural. I literally got off a plane, went into an audition and we just clicked. The chemistry when we all came together was undeniable.”
Frequent Britney hitmakers Max Martin and Dr Luke were recruited to take care of the music side, while Spears’ and now Miley Cyrus’s manager Larry Rudolph agreed to take care of business.
G.R.L.’s introduction to the industry was also astutely tied to Spears, with their debut single Vacation released with her track Ooh La La as part of the soundtrack for The Smurfs 2 movie.
The next song paired the five women with the master of the “featuring” hit, Pitbull.
Wild Wild Love made a very decent dent in the charts with the added assist of the ladies’ dancing talents in the video, filmed partly at the Playboy Mansion. That was a surreal moment for Van Oppen, who has worked with Pitbull as a back-up dancer.
“I didn’t think in my wildest dreams that I would get to pursue music as well,” she says.
“He is one of those artists who is really attentive and told me he knew I had been on a really long journey, he’d watched it and told me to keep going, to keep kicking ass.”
The power of the industry heavyweights behind this group is not lost on the girls who have spent more than 18 months in recording studios, dance rehearsals and beauty salons to get ready for the big reveal.
“Not all of us were strangers,” Battle says. “I was aware of Paula’s career and Lauren’s career and was a huge fan of theirs.
“And I had always wanted to work with Robin Antin, Dr Luke and Larry Rudolph. I swear to you, and Emmalyn had the same thing, it’s creepy but I had those three people on a list.
“I also wanted to be in the Spice Girls and I kinda feel like I am living out that dream as well.”
So far so good for G.R.L., with new single Ugly Heart making a massive leap into the top 20 in Australia last week and likely to be top 10 by the time they arrive here for a promotional visit next month.
“Now we’re really ready to get going with Ugly Heart,” the feisty Bennett says.
G.R.L. has been schooled in politeness — and Bennett knows first impressions count.
“We’re still really early in our career, we have only been on real stages about six or seven times but I feel we are in a good position as a group,” she says.
“But you have to believe that lightning can strike twice.”
■ Ugly Heart (Sony) is out now
