As a teenager, Nicole Scherzinger was the first runner-up at the 1996 Kentucky State Fair's Coca-Cola Talent Classic contest. In college, she majored in musical theatre and minored in dance at Wright State University, performing in Chicago and in Show Boat. In 2001, she went on to audition on the WB's television show Popstars, in which she auditioned with Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You". Nicole won the show as part of the newly established girl group Eden's Crush, in which she was one of the lead vocalists for the group. The group released their first single "Get Over Yourself", which charted at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, the group later touring with N Sync and Jessica Simpson. Following her short career with Eden's Crush, Nicole Scherzinger subsequently made a few promotional solo appearances under the stage name of "Nicole Kea", including covering "Breakfast in Bed" for the soundtrack to 50 First Dates in 2003. In 2003, the creator of the Pussycat Dolls Robin Antin, along with A&M Records former president Ron Fair, launched an open audition for a separate recording group. Scherzinger and Melody Thornton successfully auditioned joining Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Kimberly Wyatt with Scherzinger being cast as the group's lead singer. The Pussycat Dolls recorded "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" for the Shark Tale soundtrack and released "Sway" as their first single for the soundtrack to the film, Shall We Dance?, both in 2004. The following year, the group released "Don't Cha" which became their international breakthrough, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and is one of the best-selling singles of all time at around 6 million copies. The success of "Don't Cha" prompted the group to record their self-titled debut album which released in September 2005. Scherzinger appeared as a guest judge on the seventh season of The X Factor UK, in 2010, temporarily replacing Dannii Minogue during the Manchester auditions. She later temporarily replaced Cheryl Cole during the bootcamp stage. On March 18, 2011, Scherzinger released her debut studio album, Killer Love. Nicole was hired to co-host along with Steve Jones the first season of The X Factor USA. However, she later replaced Cheryl Cole as a judge alongside Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and L.A. Reid, and appeared on the judging panel from the auditions in Newark, New Jersey. Nicole endorsed Herbal Essences as the hair care brand’s celebrity ambassador from 2012 to 2014. She was announced as a brand ambassador for British Airways in 2013, promoting first class routes to Moscow. That same year, Nicole became the face of luxury yogurts brand Müller Corner, fronting TV and print advertising campaigns. In March 2014, she took-up celebrity designer duties for fashion company Missguided, designing and releasing an exclusive clothing line. Later in 2014, Scherzinger joined Proactiv+ as the new celebrity ambassador for the skin care company.Nicole Scherzinger is an American recording artist, actress and television personality best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls.