The Pussycat Dolls panel spared everyone from elimination last week, setting up tomorrow’s big finale in which (supposedly) two of the five Girlicious contestants will have their dreams end.  To have come this far, each girl has some measure of talent…some more than others.  What Natalie lacks in vocals, she makes up for in schmoozability.  Asked by judges Ron Fair and Robin Antin whether she could get along with any potential group members, she boasts, “I’m one of the most compatible people, I feel like, in the house, to be perfectly honest.”  Wait, what??  Charlye has been moody and, at times, a weak singer; TPTB question her desire.  Nichole seems very committed, and Tiffanie is as psyched for stardom as anyone in contention.  She’s shown both a playful personality and a drive to make her group members excel.  Then there’s Chrystina, who may be the hottest of the five girls (when made-up, that is); but she’s forgotten lyrics, tanked interviews, and sulked like a prima donna.  So who are your picks, and what kind of success can Girlicious expect?  Eden’s Crush, the first female group assembled on WBNX in the 2001 series Popstars, immediately posted both a Top 10 album and single, Get Over Yourself.  From that quintet, Nicole Scherzinger later went on to become lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls.  Don’t miss the Girlicious music video premiere, Like Me, tomorrow night after the final cuts are announced.  That is, if there ARE any cuts…    

The Girlicious lair saw weak-voiced diva Natalie storming out on her vocal coach, Jenna pigging out on junk food, and Chrystina forgetting her lead lyrics to an easy song.  PCD founder Robin Antin admonished, “You should be working on this every second; I don’t know what else you’re doing up there (in the loft).”  At Geffen Records, the girls sang a track for their first single, Leave You Alone.  Tiffany shined, but Charlye is buckling under the pressure.  Slow-motion Jenna lost the final stage battle, with Chrystina surely upset about her second time in the Bottom Two.  She has all the tools, but just doesn’t “bring it.”  There’s lots of ill-will among the remaining six girls—three of whom will form Girlicious.  Who do you think will survive?

For the first time, The CW has three competition shows airing together. Beauty & The Geek kicked off Round 5 by pitting the sexes against each other, but the players still seem intent on learning from their counterparts. If anything, this series accentuates an oddity of Reality TV: groups of girls scream and argue, and groups of guys do not. Why is that? Challenge #1 was to seduce the most phone-digits from strangers in a nightclub, with the playing field leveled thru ugly makeunders for the girls. They still won and chose five geeks to face off in sudden-death Jeopardy. Recovering Microsoft addict John buzzed too late, escaping next week’s Talent Show.

Last night, Top Model judge Miss J. “lost all confidence” in Somalian Fatima; I agree, she’s a walking stick who can’t strut. Tyra calls darkhorse Katarzyna a “mini Paulina Porizkova” — she knows how to work it. The girls wore raw meat garments and posed with slabs of beef, coaxed by Mr. Jay (or was that Mr. Freeze?). Funny Amis then capped off her worst day—after literally skipping down a runway—by coming to panel dressed for a job at Slobs-R-Us. Yeah, she’s gone.

It was all about The Pout on Pussycat Dolls: Girlicious. Hottie Chrystina couldn’t fathom being so close to elimination last week, and carried that sorry attitude thru rehearsals. Jamie joined the pity party, feeling her makeover hair shade belongs on a pumpkin. Bulky Jenna has zero energy on-stage, and that drama will come to an explosive head Monday night. Poor Cassandra boo-hooed when her deep voice couldn’t hit the notes on Blondie’s Heart of Glass. Alas, no range = goodbye.

The most-anticipated episodes of CW reality competitions are the mind-blowing makeovers. America’s Next Top Model, in particular, is known for its radical redo’s, and last night the results were hit-and-miss. Best of the lot were newly-blonde Claire, now shorn on both sides; Marvita, whose mohawk gained a “horse mane hair weave” invented by Tyra; and Fatima, who exchanged her orange kinks for a stunning long, dark weave (which she cried thru most of). Allison hated her new fluffy light tresses, but it was a bad week overall for my original pick to win. The ex-anorexic took offense to a weight comment by Fatima, and seemed bent on verbal revenge. Overconfidence (”My experience is obviously an automatic advantage.”) and too much practice-posing was Allison’s undoing, as she couldn’t even outlast Buckeye Dominique, of whom Jay Manuel said: “Her shoot was terrible. It looks like it belongs in a catalog.” The girls were tasked with modeling Elle Macpherson’s intimate apparel, and several could stand to eat a hamburger or two. Coincidentally, next week they’ll be literally wearing raw meat clothes in the weirdest shoot imaginable.The Pussycat Dolls will give their Girlicious hotties a glam makeover Monday. But this week, they learned about charisma—and the girls who “thought” they had it…didn’t. Tall redhead Ilisa is an oddity; nasty Natalie even said, “Everyone knows Ilisa isn’t going to be part of Girlicious.” That was before each gal was critiqued by a flock of young fans, with Ilisa chosen one of the two favorites. Sexy Chrystina sulked after surviving the dreaded Bottom Two, as Alexis was sent home to dental school. The three group stage acts (with songs I’d actually heard of: These Boots Were Made For Walkin’, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Respect) were all really well done in the season’s best episode.

You had to see it. Seated at the first Top Model 10 panel session were supermodel legends Tyra Banks and Paulina Porizkova, along with runway guru J. Alexander and renowned fotog Nigel Barker. Standing before them was contestant Kimberly, dissing the entire high-fashion industry! The blonde said she didn’t believe girls have to wear pricey clothes and accessories, apparently missing the point that she’d never have to buy or wear the duds…just model ‘em and hang ‘em up. Moments later, the incredulous judges banished her to the nearest outlet store. Much as I liked Twiggy, candid Paulina is an extroverted upgrade. Earlier, she offered no-holds-barred critiques of each girl, likening Ohio’s Dominique to a drag queen. The “house theme” this season is using your passion to benefit the world, reflected in the first photo shoot: the plight of homeless youth—something combatitants Marvita and Fatima had actually experienced. Though Kim quit the team, the judges still evicted laid-back cutie Atalya to close out the series’ milestone 100th episode.

In The CW’s other coed war, several Girlicious hopefuls turned on pushy gossip Natalie, who sees herself as the PCD’s next lead singer and leaves no opinion unspoken. This week’s winning foursome got to harmonize the national anthem at a Dodgers’ minor league baseball game, and “old school” (at age 25!) Carrie won immunity for her standout work. Later, Chrystina, Charlye, Jenna and Carrie rocked the judges with their song-and-dance routine; while pageant-trained Megan was told to hang up her boa. Eleven girls remain…with eight more to shed.

The Pussycat Dolls launched their new season last night amid tension and medical drama.  In her quest to form a new three-member group, Girlicious, PCD founder Robin Antin and the other judges gave three of the 15 girls pink-slips: Charlotte, Keisha and Kristin.  Soft-spoken Charlotte had inadvertently touched off a verbal catfight when she (gasp!) asked to borrow a pair of Natalie’s many boots.  Natalie earned the scorn of many fans with her arrogant refusal, telling the judges, “No one said I was supposed to pack boots for Charlotte.”  In an interview, the diva admits “I’m very competitive.  I’m a shining star and I let everyone know that.”  So much for humility.  When the group went to a club for karaoke, Charlotte remarked that nemesis Nat “is tone-deaf and can’t sing at all.”  The judges, however, said she’s one of the best dancers.  Since the girls were split into trios to perform various song-and-dance numbers, it’s hard to distinguish individual talent at this point.  However, my early favorites are the red-hot Chrystina, 20, a former-tomboy who looks like a star; Alexis, 21, a pre-dental student from Pittsburgh who is cute, smart and well-spoken; and Jamie, 21, an adorable Cuban/Venezuelan dancer for the NBA’s Miami Heat.  Chubby Jenna practiced in a wheelchair after a ruptured cyst nearly put her in a coma; while plus-size redhead Ilisa can sing, but may be limited by a heart condition.  Of the remaining girls, I’d bet that Cassandra leaves next—she has no vocal training and is too laid-back.  Though I can’t wait for the day when Natalie is given…the boot.

The CW has released group and individual photos of the new contestants for reality competitions America’s Next Top Model and Pussycat Dolls present: Girlicious. Naturally I took a quick glance over each set and was immediately struck by one thing: the PCD girls are hotter. I realize Tyra Banks and the modeling industry are always hunting for unique looks to hang designer clothes on, and that doesn’t always translate to “cute.” Whereas, the PCD show will be creating a brand new three-member singing group, Girlicious, which has to connect with a wide audience in concerts—and also sell a lot of CDs. It’s amazing how a simple smile can somehow make the PCD girls more relatable. Sure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the Top Models will take some amazing camera shots. But there will also be a lot of guys nodding at the musical mantra of the original Pussycat Dolls, “Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?”

Click here to see Pussycat Dolls present: Girlicious photo gallery

Click here to see America’s Next Top Model, Cycle 10 photo gallery