Asia Nitollano (born February 14, 1988 in Mt. Vernon, New York) is an American singer, dancer, model and cheerleader. After winning the television series Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll, Nitollano became a member of the Pussycat Dolls, only to leave a few months later to pursue a solo career.

[edit] Life and career

Nitollano is the daughter of singer Joe Bataan, and has a four-year-old daughter.^[1][2] She is of African-American, Filipino, Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry.^[1][3] As a teenager Nitollano was a cheerleader for the New York Knicks.^[1] In 2007 she became one of the nine finalists on the CW reality television series, Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll.^[2] During the season finale of the show, she was chosen to become the newest member of the group by judges Robin Antin, Ron Fair and Lil Kim.^[3] According to judge and Pussycat Doll founder Robin Antin, while Nitollano wasn't the strongest vocalist of the final three, she was a better all-round performer.^[4]

[edit] The Pussycat Dolls

Nitollano was a member of the Pussycat Dolls for a brief period of time, where she performed with them live only twice. She left the Dolls to "pursue a solo career".

[edit] Solo career

In July 2007, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Nitollano, who was never contractually obligated to join the Pussycat Dolls, had decided to embark on a solo career.^[5] According to Dawn Ostroff, head of the CW Network, Nitollano was not fired from the group, but opted to go solo after the final episode of the show was aired or in short, after the season was completely filmed in the summer of 2006.^[5][6] Nitollano's position in the group had been questioned for months, since she had never performed with the group (except on the finale of the show) and had been absent from the group's high-profile performances, most notably Live Earth, held in July 2007.^[6]

Later in 2007 she appeared in advertisements for P. Diddy's clothing line Sean Jean Women's collection.^[7]

She reportedly signed a recording deal with The Inc. Records, but has not released any music. By July 2009 Nitollano had returned to the New York Knicks, as a finalist in the auditions for the 2009-2010 Knicks City Dancers.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Asia Nitollano MySpace page
• Asia's Profile at the CW