Louisiana may have another pop-star on its hands.
Megan Dupre, kinesiology freshman, will appear on the CW’s new reality show “Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.” Out of the thousands of girls who auditioned for a spot on the television show, only 15 girls made the final cut.
“I love performing and being on stage more than anything,” Dupre said. “Being on the show was a great experience, and I don’t regret it at all.”
The show is a search for an all-girl singing and dancing group named “Girlicious” with the potential to match the star-power of the Pussycat Dolls.
The three winners will sign with the Pussycat Dolls’ recording company, record an album, film a music video and go on tour immediately after the show’s completion.
Dupre is no stranger to the stage. She has performed since age 4, she said. She was even a member of an all-girl group in California when she was 14.
Dupre beat out 20 girls at the Lafayette audition this past May and won a free ticket to Los Angeles for the second round in which she made the top 25 out of 1,000 girls.
“There was a whole bunch of great girls at the [Lafayette] audition, and then Megan showed up,” said Kate Schneider, KLWB Acadiana’s CW Television Network Marketing and Promotions Director. “She just blew the judges away.”
Dupre, who had not watched the show’s first season, said she was reluctant to try out for the television show. However, her dance teacher, Brandi Zeringue, convinced her otherwise.
Zeringue said it was not just Dupre’s dancing and singing skills that won the judges over, but it was also her sweet and bubbly personality.
Dupre said there were some aspects of show business that took some getting used to.
Until the show was finished filming, the girls were not allowed to have cell phones or contact anyone, Schneider said.
Dupre said being away from her family and friends was difficult, but the hardest part of being on the show was always having a camera in her face.
“The second you got out of shower you had to put your microphone back on,” she said. “You had to be very careful because anything you said could be on national television.”
Dupre said living with 14 others girls under one roof was fun but crazy.
“Of course there is going to be drama,” she said. “But I’m used to being around a lot of girls because I went to an all-girls school.”
Being surrounded by celebrities was also another aspect Dupre had to adjust to.
Host Mark McGrath and judge Lil’ Kim are among the countless celebrities who appear on the show.
“At first you are star-struck, but after a while you get used to it,” Dupre said. “They are just normal people – just very down-to-earth, cool people.”
Dupre, who has participated in pageants for several years, said her biggest peeve was having the producers focus on her “Southern Belle” persona.
This topic always came up in interviews, she said. She could not escape this stereotype because of her past pageant experience.
“Reality shows want to pick something about you and focus on it. They are all about stereotyping people,” Dupre said.
She said she is nervous to see how she will be portrayed on the show but excited about watching the performances.
“It will be funny more than anything, so hopefully I can laugh at myself,” Dupre said.
She said she thinks the show will be popular. Many of her friends across the country are having “Girlicious” parties to celebrate its premiere.
“I guess it’s cool my friends are doing this,” Dupre said. “At least I have a fan base.”
“Girlicious” will premiere at 8 p.m. on the CW.
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Contact Drew Belle Zerby at [email protected]