The tragic loss of Ilisa on Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious

This week, Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious sought to answer the question: Is it possible to slut up Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart”?

The answer is yes. Three young women, writhing against brass polls on stage (inexplicably, in front of an audience of matronly middle-aged women), sang the anthem. One did it well, by minimizing the cat-in-heat yowling rendition the other two performed. That was Ilisa, the tall, awkward, red-haired nerd-superhero of the show.

In fact, in spite of the uniform, California-style “sexiness” enshrined on the show, Ilisa managed to channel a Joplin-style vulnerable and earthy lust in her performance.

It didn’t pay off. Robin Antin, the Pussycat Dolls creator who judged it, felt Ilisa was donning a veneer of sexiness, rather than letting it come from inside. So Ilisa, along with great-dancer, bad-singer Jamie, was forced to hang up her boa last night.

With such a narrow and commercial view of what’s sexy, thank god the real Janis Joplin never auditioned for the Pussycat Dolls. She would have been flushed out of the industry.

Here’s the rub. Ilisa is awesome. She’s authentic, a great singer and dancer, has a unique look, and has a hard story that frankly adds some depth to her performances.

On the Girlicious Web site, she’s consistently ranked among the top favourite contestants, according to the online poll. In fact, Ilisa and Jamie—the two who were eliminated last night—tied for second place behind Texas blondie Nichole. Tiffany, and Charlye, who the judges seem to like, are near the bottom of the poll.

Plus, in an earlier episode, a bunch of target-audience tween girls brought in to “judge” the contestants performance singled out Ilisa as a favourite, because she is different.

Which begs the question: In putting together a marketable group that will appeal to tween girls, why is bland, commercial sexiness at the top of Antin’s rating card? Why is she ignoring the input of her bread-and-butter market?

Rejection, Ilisa said, is something that happens to her everyday. No doubt. When the popular media world is tragically owned by Antin-alikes.

Good for the young fans of the show for asking for a more authentic, less catty role model. And boo on Antin for shoving a tarted-up version of womanhood down their throats anyway.

Ilisa, the tween world needs you. Please stay in the biz.