'He's pompous and aloof and a sweet cuddly teddy bear': Nicole Scherzinger on Simon Cowell, Lewis Hamilton and why it's time to go back to singing
By PIERS HERNU
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The syntax-mangling former Pussycat Doll on being Simon Cowell’s ‘angel’ – and how her X Factor success sparked a love affair with the British
'Of course I try to be a diva in terms of confidence of performance and owning a song but I've never behaved like one in terms of the negative connotations of the word,' said Nicole Scherzinger
She’s late. Forty-five minutes to be exact and the word ‘diva’ flashes unkindly through my mind.
I am standing in the lobby of one of London’s smartest hotels, gazing hopefully out of the window when, at last, a huge black Rolls Royce pulls up outside.
A diva, of sorts, gets out but bizarrely it’s not Nicole Scherzinger but her X Factor boss Simon Cowell who breezes past me towards the lifts.
Five minutes later a people carrier arrives and Scherzinger steps out looking every inch the star in a figure-hugging black and white dress with Eighties-style, big curly hair.
Having stopped to sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans, she apologises profusely for the delay and we head up in the lift to her room.
‘No way!’ she gasps, when I tell her who has just preceded her.
‘What’s he doing here in my hotel?’ She immediately whips out her iPhone from a dangerously expensive-looking handbag and starts texting Cowell.
‘Simon is both pompous and aloof and a sweet cuddly teddy bear at the same time,’ she grins having read his response. We are now settled on a sofa in her spacious room.
‘I’m the angel on one shoulder,’ she continues, ‘and on the other side is the devil, which is a reflection of himself in the mirror.
‘Seriously though, there’s something about Simon. He is absolutely someone who I would turn to for advice about the music business because in a way he has mentored me.
'He always jokes that I’m ruthless but if I am I think I’ve learnt that from him. We have a lot in common because I’ve worked really hard to get where I am today and I know that he has too.’
'My family had no money when I was growing up so I still have that mentality and I'm used to not spending it. It's really nice to have it and not stress and worry about it,' said Nicole
Since making the switch from the X Factor USA two years ago, to replace Cheryl Cole as a judge in the UK version, Scherzinger has become a familiar face on British television screens.
She rose to fame in 2001 when she won an American TV talent show as the lead singer in a girl band called Eden’s Crush.
When the band split up, she became lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls (originally a burlesque group recast as recording artists), which went on to sell 40 million singles worldwide, with hits such as Don’t Cha and Stickwitu.
After Pussycat Dolls disbanded in 2010, Scherzinger went solo and has enjoyed similar stellar chart success.
These days, she is as renowned for her revealing outfits, forthright views and her on and off relationship with F1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton as she is for her music.
The 34-year-old’s easy-going charm has made her a firm favourite with X Factor contestants and viewers alike.
And it’s not all an act, either. It’s barely five minutes since we met and already any fears about diva-like behaviour are dispelled. She makes sure that I am fed and watered and is happy to answer questions with frank and often funny answers.
‘I’m no diva but I can be annoying in a recording studio,’ she says.
‘Of course I try to be a diva in terms of confidence of performance and owning a song but I’ve never behaved like one in terms of the negative connotations of the word.
'The problem is I’m a perfectionist, so the producer might say he’s happy with my vocal take but I’ll say, “No, it can be better”. I’ll do it again and again until I feel I’ve got the truth out of a song.
‘I’ve always been too hard on myself to behave like I’ve arrived or even to enjoy whatever success I’ve had,’ she says.
'In a weird way The X Factor has brought out the best in me. Being a judge has made me stop focusing on myself... It sounds corny but I'm just glad I've got to be of service in another kind of way,' said Nicole
‘I’ve always envisioned myself higher than where I was and I still do. With each success I think, ‘That’s nice but I’m supposed to go there!’
'So I always feel like I’ve still got a lot of climbing to do. Maybe that explains why I’ve never had to have serious words with myself about behaving like a diva.’
As if to prove a point, Scherzinger is happy to talk about her boyfriend Hamilton and her frequent visits to Grand Prix circuits around the world.
‘I only go to a Grand Prix to support Lewis,’ she giggles. ‘I am in awe of Formula One because there is so much money, technology and talent, but as for the racing, it really is like trying to understand rocket science when I’m there, trackside.
‘For me there’s only ever one winner and a lot of people would agree with me on that – Lewis is the best but there are other factors like the quality of engineering or the team behind him. Let’s just say a lot of your success can come down to the horse that you’re riding.’
The conversation meanders back to Cowell. Her affection for him seems genuine.
‘Before I came over here to do the X Factor, I had serious reservations. I sat down with Simon and basically said, “Is everything gonna be OK?” I was confident about the work I was going to put into judging and the experience that I was bringing to the table, but it was the British media that really worried me.
‘I could see how they were setting me up for failure almost before I came here, so I was looking for reassurance. Simon’s phrase was, “Just be the star that you are.” He insisted things would be fine with the media over here as long as I didn’t try to be anything but myself.
‘His advice turned out to be spot-on. As soon as I saw people react to me being outspoken, truthful and real it opened the floodgates for me. It turns out that understanding the British public is not rocket science.
'The British appreciate honesty and they also have a bonkers, off-the-wall sense of humour like me. They brought out the “schermazing” in me’.
Popular judge: Nicole remains close to Simon Cowell (pictured left) since working with him and calls him a 'teddy bear'. She successfully mentored James Arthur (pictured right), the winner of last year's X Factor
X Factor viewers will be familiar with her ability to invent new words and this one, she explains, is ‘like Scherzinger and amazing rolled into one.’
It would appear her much-vaunted feud with fellow X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos is a fabrication mutually beneficial for both the show and the tabloids.
‘I genuinely admire Tulisa because I could never have been an X Factor judge at 23 like she is,’ she says.
‘At that age I was still searching for myself and I cared way too much what people thought about me so I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.
'Tulisa is very mature for her age so she really doesn’t care about what people think of her. Because she holds her own, she is very articulate and is genuinely herself. People like that about her.
‘In a weird way The X Factor has brought out the best in me. Being a judge has made me stop focusing on myself. I’ve been so in my own head as an artist trying to progress my career that it’s been refreshing to focus on bringing the best out of someone else and energising them rather than myself.
'It sounds corny but I’m just glad I’ve got to be of service in another kind of way.’
Having taken a break from being in her own head, it’s now time for her to return to her day job with a new single, Boomerang. ‘It was played to me by a friend of mine when I was recording recently in a studio with Will.i.am,’ she explains.
'I only go to a Grand Prix to support Lewis (Hamilton, her partner, pictured right). As for the racing, it really is like trying to understand rocket science when I'm there, trackside,' said Nicole
‘I fell in love with it immediately because it felt like something I had written. It’s about being thrown out of something and coming back even stronger. That’s my life’s philosophy, my mantra.
She proceeds to offer a taste of her singing; her voice, pure and plaintive, passes the audition with flying colours. ‘I have no idea if it will be a hit,’ she adds hastily.
‘I never know if a song’s going to be popular so I don’t select them with that in mind. All I can do is follow my heart and my gut and go for songs that make me feel great.
‘If I had my way my albums would have 50 songs on them but they would be all over the place – all different colours, feels, moods and styles. I have to rely on the judgement of the album producer, so he’ll have a big say, and there’s also people I trust at my record label who can help me.’
Scherzinger was born to a Filipino father and a half-Hawaiian, half-Russian mother in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1985, when she was six, her mother and her German stepfather Gary Scherzinger moved to Louisville, Kentucky.
She traces her desire to sing back to her first year there when her parents, despite having little money, gave her a cassette player and Whitney Houston’s debut album for Christmas.
Houston’s premature death in February last year (she was found drowned in an hotel bath with cocaine, alcohol and various prescription drugs in her bloodstream) clearly remains a source of great sadness.
‘The reason for my big hair today is that I’ve just done a photo shoot as a tribute to Whitney, my musical idol,’ she says.
‘Just thinking of Whitney’s death brings tears to my eyes. I was lucky enough once to meet her briefly and just before her death there was talk of us having dinner together.
'I was at my house in the hills in LA when I heard the news, not even ten minutes away from the hotel where she died. She was one of the true greats and it’s so sad that her death couldn’t have been prevented.’
Is she someone, who like Whitney, struggles with the pressures of fame?
‘Well,’ she says, ‘not really. People say, “Oh man, you get money and it causes you all these problems”.
Pussycat Dolls: (Left to right) Melody Thornton, Kimberly Wyatt, Nicole, Ashley Roberts and Jessica Sutta performing at the 02 Arena in 2008
'Quite the contrary. Money is a great luxury and I can never have enough of it. That said, my people make fun of me because unless I go on a very occasional, once-every-couple-of-years shopping spree, I’m really quite frugal.
‘If I had time to collect discount coupons for a grocery store I would. My family had no money when I was growing up so I still have that mentality and I’m used to not spending it.
'It’s really nice to have it and not stress and worry about it and to give it your family for the same reason. I spend it on my family, my home and I do allow myself a nice car.’
Meanwhile, her efforts to go unnoticed tend not to work.
‘If I want to go out shopping here in London I’ll put my hair in a bun, wear no make-up and have the biggest Elton John sunglasses on but it still won’t work.
'Sometimes I just can’t understand how people recognise me. It can be a hoot but it does mean I keep getting stopped by people with camera phones and therefore I tend to get my stylist to do my shopping for me.
There are drawbacks, however.
‘One thing I have noticed,’ she says, ‘is that fame makes new family members come out of the woodwork – those good old distant cousins. But that’s OK because it’s better to acknowledge you are in a really blessed position and to give to them than harbour resentment.’
I mention that from what I saw earlier in the lobby that she seems to include the fans in her generosity.
‘Yeah, but I’m way better in person than I am on things like Twitter,’ she adds. ‘I know Twitter is the best and fastest way to connect with fans who really appreciate you but I’m still not cool with it – although I am trying!
‘I try my best but I’m a one-on-one person and I don’t want to tell people I’m on the toilet or I just brushed my teeth. To be honest, I miss the old Hollywood way of having some mystique about a star.’
And with that our time is up. I do have one last question though. What did Cowell text in reply?
‘Like I said honey,’ she says tapping the side of her nose, ‘it’s all about the mystique.’
‘Boomerang’ is out on March 10 on Polydor Records
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2289661/Nicole-Scherzinger-Simon-Cowell-Lewis-Hamilton-time-to-singing.html#ixzz2N5rOYmBN
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