Pussycat Dolls Present Girlicious: "Charisma" (Episode 203)

This week's theme was charisma, and according to the PCDs, it's what can turn a "fan into a fanatic" (they're so clever, those Pussycat Dolls!).  Robin deemed last week's top three performers, Carrie, Chrystina and XX, team captains and allowed them to choose their teammates for the week.  Each group was assigned a song that Robin felt would allow their charisma to shine (read: the same old songs Robin always chooses); the girl with the least amount of charisma would be sent home.

The heat was off Natalie this week as the emerging problem candidates shifted to Tiffanie, Alexis and Ilisa.  Vocal coach Ken worried that Tiffanie wasn't capable of not overdoing her performance, while Mikey had his work cut out trying to teach the classically trained Alexis to dance sexily.  Meanwhile, Ilisa's issues extended to the entire group, who were having a hard time accepting her tomboy qualities.  Or as Natalie so eloquently put it, "Everyone knows Ilisa isn't going to be part of Girlicious because, like, she's just not girlicious enough!"

The others all voiced that Ilisa is indeed different than they are--the consensus being that she isn't girly enough to mesh with the group.  Ilisa said she's no stranger at being an outsider, but was still affected by the girls' cold shoulders and struggled to reach out and make friends. 

For their weekly field trip, Robin took the girls to meet Nicole Scherzinger from the PCDs.  Nicole engaged in some self-promotion and sang them a song from her solo album.  The combination of meeting Nicole and imagining themselves in a similarly successful place brought them all to tears.  As the wiped their eyes, Robin announced their elimination safety challenge: perform "I Don't Need A Man" for an audience of critics.  These "critics" were in fact members of what Girlicious' key demographics will be--young/tween girls.

The kidlets all took dubious notes while the girls performed and were happy to voice their opinions with Robin afterwards.  They didn't hold any punches and the compliments were scarce.  They thought Nichole was awesome and had better vocals than most, and Jamie was one of their favorite dancers.  They said Charlye wasn't memorable along with Alexis, and Cassandra and Tiffanie need to work on their dancing skills.  They determined Carrie's dancing didn't match her strong voice and that Jenna seemed bored on stage.  Chrystina didn't bring enough effort to her performance to impress the girls, but they were blown away by Natalie and Ilisa.  The latter being a huge shocker to the Girlicious hopefuls.
 
The young critics voted Natalie the challenge winner and said she was well rounded, had charisma and was the "Nicole of the group."   On the other hand, the girls took a liking to Ilisa for the very same reasons the Girlicious competitors didn't: her unique style and personality.  The girls loved Ilisa'a sassiness and that she was different from the others.  Their comments made Ilisa tear up and gave her such a much-needed confidence boost.

Feeling more secure about her place in the competition, Ilisa decided to share the details of her rare heart condition with the others.  While participating in a dance competition, Ilisa suddenly passed out.  She was unable to be revived and remained unconscious for thirty minutes, during which she was thought to be dead.  Since Ilia's mom had been taping the dance competition, this was all caught on tape (which the CW aired).  Upon arriving at the hospital, Ilisa was in a coma, underwent three surgeries and had a defibrillator permanently placed in her heart.  All in all, it's a miracle that Ilisa is able to sing and dance, and the other girls were really receptive to her story and let their guards down a bit.
 
The girls took to the stage the following morning for elimination performances.  First up were Tiffanie, Charlye and Nichole to "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'."  Overall, they had some serious consistency issues.  Nichole especially seemed lax, it was hard to understand what she was singing and her dancing lacked precision.  Tiffanie and Charlye, however, surprised the judges with their improvements.  Tiffanie had a stage authority that Ron really liked, and everyone was happy to see she had sufficiently toned down the acting.  Likewise, Charyle impressed Lil' Kim with a memorable performance--something she was lacking last week.

The next group, Carrie, Jamie, Cassandra and Alexis, took the stage to "Girls Just Want To Have Fun."  It was a really cute, fun performance and reflected what Girlicious will ultimately be about.  Carrie in particular did a great job; Ron thought she was fantastic and there's something about her that I'm really starting to like.  She's totally sweet and not trying to be anything but herself.  I think after next week's makeovers, she's going to become a definite front runner. 

Robin liked that Cassandra put in some hard rehearsal time and showed improvement.  Jamie's tone and dancing were given the thumbs up, and Alexis was told she delivered her best performance yet, although she still lacks enough stage presence and personality.

Ilisa kicked things off for group three, singing "Respect."  Outfitted in white flapper mini dresses with fans blowing back their hair, Ilisa, Jenna, Chrystina and Natalie had the best choreography/look of the night.  The judges really liked Jenna's voice but are tired of seeing her look like she could care less about being on stage.  They also want to see more from Chrystina, who let her nerves get the best of her last night and had some vocal issues.  Natalie and Ilisa again impressed the judges.  Already safe from elimination, Robin simply said Natalie's "hot," and as for Ilisa, Robin admitted that when she looks as her she thinks "no."  Nevertheless, even though she doesn't think Ilisa looks the part, her opinion immediately changes when Ilisa hits the stage.  She's interesting, has a great voice and connects with her audience.

After a brief deliberation, the judges decided that the group performances were equally as good and to eliminate based on individual performances.  Jenna, Nichole, Alexis and Chrystina were announced as the bottom four, and Alexis was sent home.  Told she was beautiful and talented, but just not what's right for Girlicious, Alexis bid adieu to her newfound friends and admitted to rethinking dental school thanks to her taste of fame.

Next week, the ten finalists get a lesson in style and complete makeovers.  Hopefully this means a Jonathan Antin cameo!  I miss Blowout.