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Lifestyle
Here Come The BQ Girls
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Get ready, world, a new girl group is on the way! The quartet is made up of pageant queens including Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam, the Trinidadian multi-tasker who bagged the rights for Caribbean's Next Top Model that's due to air soon on regional TV screens. Wendy is one-fourth of the BQ (Beauty Queen) Girls comprising Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley, Miss Teen USA 2012 first runner-up Haley Seibert, and Miss China Universe 2011 third runner-up Yi Na.
The BQ Girls have been given the blessing of none other than business magnate and beauty pageant franchise holder Donald Trump. Missing the musical presence of such all-female groups as TLC, En Vogue and Destiny's Child, Dr AT Dunn created ther group to fill the void left by the major girl groups of the 1990s and early 2000s with an ensemble formed entirely of beauty queens. The group is a combination of different generations, backgrounds and styles, uniting all the corners of Trump's global pageant franchise. The quartet already has three singles in the pipeline, including their debut Runway, which will land on iTunes soon. They're also planning to return to their roots by bidding to perform at Miss Universe 2012 in Las Vegas in December.
In a recent interview with the Trinidad Express, Fitzwilliam said after agreeing to an experimental studio session at the Virginia mountain home of their manager, she found herself pleasantly surprised by the resulting sound that she describes as "pop with urban riffs".
"I think out of the gates the pageant world is our core, but the music does easily transcend that world," Fitzwilliam told the Express. "For me it's just like a pageant. Before I won Miss Universe I thought it was kind of silly and vain... that these girls have to be ditzy and dumb. But like pageantry it's a great launching pad. It's no longer about having a hit on the radio... it's about merchandising, beauty deals, other opportunities to sell."
The Trini celeb expressed her hope that the group's draw would be as broad-based as its members. In the United States, they're targeting the young 'tween' demographic and her own appeal is "youthful", but Fitzwilliam is banking on interest from different age groups across the world.
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