Hush Hush; Hush Hush

Background and composition

Hush Hush was written by Andreas Romdhane, Josef Larossi, Ina Wroldsen, Nicole Scherzinger, Dino Fekaris, Frederik Perren In 2009 Ron Fair and Dave Audé produced a remix of the song now titled "Hush Hush; Hush Hush" for Scherzinger to perform on the Doll Domination Tour. The new version features additional vocals sampled from Gloria Gaynor's worldwide smash hit "I Will Survive". The song is written in the key of Bb minor.

Musically the song starts as a standard, jam. When the song passes the one-minute mark, the song erupts "into a camp-as-Christmas bridge and chorus, adorned with crash-cymbal punctuation". Nick Levine described the song as a "dated faux-disco mess". Around three minutes the song samples Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" (1978). Lyrically the song is a post-breakup anthem, promotes the Dolls as strong women who lament of the death of a relationship and never ask for help from their lovers.

When the promotional cover art of the single was revealed, it was listed as "Pussycat Dolls featuring Nicole Scherzinger". The emphasis on Nicole Scherzinger as the featured artist caused controversy, as "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" also emphasized her as a featured singer. It sparked rumors that Nicole Scherzinger was leaving the group to continue her solo career, despite well below-average sales for the singles from her 2007 shelved solo album release Her Name Is Nicole. This also led to internal strife within the group as the other members were unhappy with the over-emphasis on Scherzinger.

In April 24, 2009, the tension surfaced onstage while the group opened for Britney Spears on their tour in Glendale, Arizona. Melody Thornton, on the verge of tears, addressed the crowd saying, "Thank you guys for supporting me, even if I'm not featured" and encouraging the audience to follow their dreams and to "never let anyone stomp on them, ever". After her outburst, she was high-fived by Jessica Sutta, indicating more of the Dolls were upset by the tagging and the over-emphasis on Scherzinger. On a radio interview, Scherzinger referred to her featured status on "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)". "It's no big deal, that doesn't take away from anybody else in the group. That's my role. I wrote 'Hush Hush' as well."

Critical reception

Taila Craines of Orange positively reviewed the song's original version. "['Hush Hush'] is an epic ballad promoting the Dolls as strong women who 'never asked for help' from their men." Steve Jones of USA Today recommended to do download the song. The remix was negatively criticized. Digital Spy's Robert Copsey gave a review of two stars out of five for lacking "the feisty R&B edge that made the likes of 'Don't Cha' and 'When I Grow Up' so effective". 'Idolator' wrote that " ['Hush Hush; Hush Hush'] is an unspectacular dance-pop track with Scherzinger’s muscular gasps leading the way, rhyming straw-ng and law-ng. But a simple girl-power post-breakup anthem would not help the Dolls reclaim their strategic position in the Pop Wars." However Orange liked the song commenting that the remixed version is "very fun indeed." "Hush Hush; Hush Hush" was ranked at number eighty-one in the highest listener-rated 2009 pop singles on AOL Radio.

Commercial

"Hush Hush; Hush Hush" topped the Hot Dance/Club Songs chart, becoming the Pussycat Dolls' sixth consecutive number one.

Music video

The music video for the "Hush Hush; Hush Hush" was directed by Rich Lee. It features cameo appearances by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and former VIP Pussycat Doll Carmen Electra, who used to sing lead vocals with the Dolls during their burlesque performances. The video makes use of product placement of Campari, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition. The video premiered on May 26, 2009.

Synopsis

The music video begins with Nicole Scherzinger lounging in a bathtub, similar to a scene of Cindy Crawford in George Michael's video for "Freedom! '90" (1990). As the ballad transits unto the remix she passes a door onto a surreal hall of staircases going in different directions. When the second verse begins, Scherzinger is seen wearing a gold sequinned halterneck dress while the rest of the members are seen skating in a roller disco. In the next scene in the attic while Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt are hanging from the chandeliers as Scherzinger enters the room. As the second chorus begins, Scherzinger wears a tight-fitting silver basque.

She enters into the basement, which it turned into a nightclub the Dolls for their signature dance sequence in the middle of the video. In the scene Perez Hilton makes a cameo appearance as a DJ, while Carmen Electra dances beside him. The video then fades, and opens on a close shot of Scherzinger's face in front of a disco mirror ball wearing an afro wig, which paid homage to Diana Ross. After, the Pussycat Dolls are dancing with male partners in the room with the mirror ball. At the end, Nicole Scherzinger is finishing the song singing "Baby, Hush Hush". It closes with a large shot which reveals the video to have taken place in a dollhouse with all dancers and Dolls in the lowest disco room.

Reception

A Reporter of the Daily Mail commented that the video is "the most revealing Pussycat Dolls video yet". While noted that "the rest of the group are barely seen in the video with Nicole as the star of the show. Nick Levine of Digital Spy described the video as "barmy". Celebuzz praised the video describing it as a "steamy clip". "It starts out in the best possible way: With lead Doll Nicole Scherzinger wet and naked." The Daily Star's Gemma Wheatley said that "the rest of the Pussycat Dolls also look hotter than ever". Mirror.co.uk commented "It's a wonder Formula 1 ace Lewis, 24, could keep his mind on the ball as he played golf yesterday", referring on Scherzinger who is naked on the video. Reviewer Melinda Newman commended the overemphasis of lead singer Nicole Scherzinger. "It's a PCD' video in name only given that the other dancers barely have more than cameo appearances. There's not even the remotest hint that there are other people in the group until more than a minute in when she passes through a door onto a multi-level staircase and the other Dolls are dancing as the song morphs from a ballad to dance number. The other Pussycat Dolls are completely relegated to background dancers, along with the other hired hands."

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Doll Domination.