By all appearances, "The Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious" is like any other competitive reality show. The grand prize is a spot in a new group, contestants must face a judges' panel, and celebrities such as N'Sync's JC Chasez are treated like royalty.

But there was a moment in the CW series' third episode when Robin Antin, the choreography maven who dreamed up the burlesque troupe in West Hollywood clubs in the mid-'90s, cut to the heart of the major-label music business in 2008.

Eleven female contestants — all about age 20 and competing for places in Girlicious, the Pussycat Dolls spinoff group the show will found — were to perform to an audience of tween girls, the age group that made Miley Cyrus so popular that she was an Oscar presenter this year.

"This is part of the key demographic you want buying your CDs," intoned Antin. "They're the ones that dictate the future of music."

And the music industry needs them, if only because the tweens are largely believed to still purchase CDs. If junior high kids weren't entirely responsible for what Nielsen SoundScan estimates as 2.8 million copies sold of "PCD," the debut album from the Pussycat Dolls that contained the (still) inescapable single "Don't Cha," Antin knows they accounted for a sizable percentage.

"If you go to a Pussycat Dolls concert, it's all these little girls, and they all have on their hoodies," Antin said recently in the family room of her modest West Hollywood home. "When I first started the Pussycat Dolls, I never would have imagined that would become our target audience. But it makes so much sense. My idea, from the very beginning, was to have sort of live dolls, dancing and singing. That's what these girls relate to."

Antin passionately talks of the young women she employs, be it the Pussycat Dolls who record for Interscope Records or those who dance in her Las Vegas club in Caesars, as real-life dolls, creations she can accessorize with workout DVDs, lingerie lines and Broadway shows. Broadway and workout videos are not yet realities, but the lingerie line has officially launched, and Antin said she's close to opening up a Pussycat Dolls Lounge in Los Angeles (the Las Vegas club opened in 2005).

But after about 13 years of growing and orchestrating her brand, are some tears starting to show in the Pussycat Dolls' high-class fishnets?

"I guess the first sign of concern was the difficulty in getting the solo record from the frontwoman out," said Geoff Mayfield, Billboard's director of charts, referring to the fact that the Dolls' star, Nicole Scherzinger, couldn't get her solo album off the ground.

Although the group is now three years removed from its smash debut, however, Mayfield says the Dolls' return would be greeted with excitement by the record business.

"The shelf life on that first Pussycat Dolls record was reminiscent of days of yore," he said.

Based on that success, Antin is confident the Pussycat Dolls haven't worn out their nine lives, and Ron Fair, the chairman of Geffen Records who has pledged to release the debut from Girlicious, is betting on her being right.

The reason: ancillary revenue. As the music business looks to new models, much talk has been made of the "360 deal," which is structured in such a way that Interscope/Geffen/A&M takes a cut of multiple aspects of the Pussycat Dolls brand.

"The architect of the 360 deal was Berry Gordy," Fair said, referring to the founder of Motown Records. "He started it before there was a label for it, since Motown was a one-stop shop where you signed as an artist and you signed as a writer. ... (This) truly is one of these Berry Gordy type of 360 deals."

And even though a Girlicious album isn't out yet, Antin's mind is racing through future projects. It's all, she said, in the name of "female empowerment," which she defines via a mix of sexiness and confidence.

"It's not what life is about, but it's a part of life," Antin said. "We all want to feel good. We all want to feel healthy. What can you do to feel your best? Can't go to the gym? Go outside and run down the street. There's a lot you can do. I definitely plan on writing a book about that, helping women and inspiring women and possibly even doing a show."

When Antin started the Pussycat Dolls, she had a roommate in actress Christina Applegate, and a day job choreographing fashion shows and music videos. You can see some of her early work, and some original Pussycat Dolls, in the video for the Barenaked Ladies' hit "One Week."

"I would go and work and make money, and all my money would be put into the Pussycat Dolls," Antin said. "It was put into the costumes. It was put into the sets."

Antin received encouragement from her brother, actor-turned-producer-turned-writer/director Steve Antin (Robin Antin's other brother, Jonathan Antin, is the celebrity hairstylist followed in Bravo's reality series "Blow Out"). Steve Antin filmed early Pussycat Dolls shows at the Viper Room, pitching the project as a film/soundtrack to record labels.

"It wasn't burlesque in the beginning," Steve Antin said in a phone interview. "It was more go-go-ish."

The plan for now is to release the next Pussycat Dolls album first.

As for Girlicious the group, that album is nearly done, and a single will be released immediately following the TV show's April 21 finale.

Barring any last-minute changes, the Girlicious debut opens with a guest shot from rapper of the moment Flo Rida, who currently has two songs in the Top 40 on the U.S. pop chart.

Will fans be skeptical of Girlicious?

"Do you think we had it easy with all of our music getting out there?" Robin Antin responded, sounding defensive. "All of the press was saying, These girls are this, and these girls are that. You know what? They're great.

"Everyone is always going to say something," Antin said, gaining confidence as she continued. "But if you say no, I'm going to say yes. ... If you say you don't like this, I'm going to give you a reason to like it."