June 29: Nicole Scherzinger, Pussycat Dolls, "Don't 'Cha,"" "Dancing with the Stars," is 32 today.

Born Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger in Honolulu,  Hawaii, and growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, Nicole has a long resume for performing. She is a singer, songwriter, dancer and occasional actress who is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, a judge on "Sing Off" and a winner on "Dancing with the Stars."

Scherzinger began performing in Louisville, attending the Youth Performing Arts School at duPont Manual High School and performing with Actors Theatre of Louisville. As a teenager, Scherzinger was the first runner-up at the 1996 Kentucky State Fair's Coca-Cola Talent Classic contest. Nicole majored in acting and musical theatre at Wright State University, where she played Velma Kelly in Chicago and Julie La Verne in Show Boat. She put her studies on hold in 1999 to sing backup vocals for the rock band Days of the New.

In 2001, Scherzinger competed in the premiere season of The WB's television show Popstars, on which she earned a spot in the all-girl pop group Eden's Crush. She became one of the main vocalists for the group. Their 2001 US single "Get Over Yourself (Goodbye)" peaked at number one in sales and hit the top ten on Billboard Hot 100.

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Eden's Crush

After Eden's Crush disbanded, Scherzinger made a few promotional solo appearances under the stage name of Nicole Kea, including covering "Breakfast in Bed" for the soundtrack to 50 First Dates in 2003.

She then worked with Yoshiki of Japanese rock band X Japan on his Violet UK project. She sang the English version of "I'll Be Your Love" live with the Tokyo Symphonic Orchestra. The track also appeared on the 2003 album Exposition of Global Harmony.

In May 2003, she joined the Pussycat Dolls and became the lead vocalist during the transition to a popular music group.  Other members of The Pussycat Dolls are Carmit Bachar, Melody Thornton, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Kimberly Wyatt.
The Pussycat Dolls 2006 debut album PCD went double-platinum in America and sold over 9 million copies worldwide, with several Top 10 hit songs, including "Don't Cha," "Buttons," and "Stickwitu."

Following the success of PCD, Scherzinger recorded a series of duets and guest vocal appearances with artists such as P.Diddy, 50 Cent, Timbaland, Vittorio and several others. She also released two solo singles and videos before recording the second Pussycat Dolls Album Doll Domination, which has sold over 5 million copies, and contains hits like "When I Grow Up," and "I Hate This Part."

In 2009, Nicole wrote and recorded an adaptation of the AR Rahman Song "Jai Ho" from the film "Slumdog Millionaire." The song went #1 in 17 countries.

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Scherzinger is currently writing and recording new songs for release in 2010, while pursuing her love for acting and musical theater. She was the winner of "Dancing with the Stars" in May 2010. She also starred in "Rent" as Maureen at the Hollywood Bowl, directed by Neil Patrick Harris (and also starring High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens as drug-addled, HIV-positive stripper Mimi. )

Over the past five years Scherzinger was ranked Maxim's Hot 100 in 2006 and 2007 she ranked at twenty-two and twenty-one respectively. In 2008 she ranked at number nineteen along with the Pussycat Dolls. In 2009, she ranked at number forty-nine, and in 2010 landed at number twenty-four.

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