Search for the Next Pussycat Doll: The True Story from a Real Contestant

It started out as a joke more than anything.

I was searching the casting notices as usual, being the average L.A. actress/singer/dancer, as I saw one for a reality show about searching for the next Pussycat Doll.

Now I, like any red-blooded American, love the Pussycat Dolls. I'd be lying if I didn't say so. They're hot, they're amazing, and they have great stage presence.

But as a genuine performer... a singer/guitarist with an album out... would I really be on a reality show about being the new member of the pop group? It definitely wasn't on my list of things to do.

I don't want to sound pretentious. That's the last thing I could possibly be. It's just that there's this stigma in Hollywood about using reality shows to get to the top. It just seems wrong to most of us. I suppose maybe we're just used to the struggle.

Sometimes I think if we got over that, we might be famous by now. I mean, look at Kelly Clarkson. She was on American Idol and now she's one of the most recognizable singers in the world.

Then there are the countless numbers of artists who say that show is nothing more than a karaoke contest.

In any case, I decided on a whim that I'd submit myself to the show. It was good for a laugh, if nothing else.

I didn't really expect to hear anything. In fact, I'd pretty much forgotten about it.

Only a few days later, I received a phone call from someone who worked for the new CW show. She said she was "pre-screening" contestants, and that she wanted to hear me sing.

This call opened me up to not only another step in the audition process for The Pussycat Dolls, but additionally for the management company for whom this "middle-woman" worked. Of course, I was ecstatic. Not only had I stepped up in the land of the dolls, but someone along the way had requested to steal me away from the competition.

The woman with whom I was speaking told me she'd put me on her boss' "exclusive list" for the audition they were holding that weekend in Los Angeles, and that I'd be seen before the girls who arrived for the open call.