The Pussycat Dolls ended their six-month,“Doll Domination” world tour with a bit of a lovefest and a coming home party for lead singer Nicole Scherzinger Saturday night at Blaisdell Arena.

In January, five Dolls — lead singer and O‘ahu native Scherzinger, secondary lead singer Melody Thornton and dancers/backup vocalists Ashley Roberts, Kimberly Wyatt and Jessica Sutta — started the 87-show tour that circled the globe.
But but by the time the Dolls touched down on O‘ahu Friday morning, their troupe had been reduced to four. Sutta missed the Asia part of the tour after breaking ribs while performing during an earlier show.
Earlier Saturday, Scherzinger was visibly emotional at a news conference at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel when she talked about the tour finally coming to an end, and getting a chance to perform in front of her ohana. On two occasions during the conference, Thorton reached over and tapped her in support as Scherzinger appeared to nearly break down.
“This means so much,” she said.
At the show, Scherzinger elaborated.
“We’ve been on tour six months nonstop playing everywhere from the pyramids in Egypt to the Alps in Austria. Finally, I can say what I’ve wanted to say for so long. The Doll Dominaton Tour is here in Hawaii! It’s a dream come true to play in front of my family.”
Scherzinger said she plans to stay with family for a while before returning to the studio. No plans of the next Pussycat Dolls concert were given. All four Dolls, however, seemed a bit relieved to get a tour break.
Part of the reason may be because much of the talk leading into the final stops of “Doll Domination” had centered around alleged infighting over Scherzinger’s top billing and the possibility she’ll leave the group to focus on her solo career.
None of that surfaced Saturday night.
Instead, Scherzinger asked the crowd early to give a warm welcome to the “beautiful girls up here with me,” and talked about how much they meant to her. Later in the show, after Scherzinger performed one song individually, the rest of The Pussycat Dolls returned to the stage with leis in hands, draping them over Scherzinger and telling her “we love you so much.”
The show itself lived up to it’s billing: Some burlesque dancing mixed with high-energy songs and women dressed in tight-fitting corsets and clothes. Choreographer Robin Antin, who started the Pussycat Dolls as a burlesque group in 1995 and has overseen its transition into more of a singing act with dancing, was in the audience for the tour’s final show.
The Dolls used three giant video screens, not only to give the fans high up in the back of the arena a better view, but also to bring in other artists such as will I.Am. and AR. Rahmen for duets with Scherzinger. Rahmen appeared on the big screens in the “Jai Ho (You are my Destiny)” video while Scherzinger sang her part live on stage.
They played all of their hits, and throughout the concert Scherzinger saluted her large family in the audience, at one point yelling “Howzit! I’m Nicole. So proud to be part Hawaiian. So proud to be part Filipina.”
Her final comments, and the final song, was a message to kids to believe in themselves no matter where they are and dream big.
“‘When I Grow Up’ in Honokai Hale anything can happen!” she shouted.