Fifth Harmony, AKA the best thing to come out of US X-Factor ever (besides countless Britney Spears expression GIFs) are heading to G-A-Y on Saturday to BO$$ us up. James Egan dialled up his Dream Phone for a chirpse with two Fifths, Dinah and Lauren.
Hey girls! I was worried I was gonna have five of you so we’d need different buzzers, like on Catchphrase.
L:[laughs] You definitely got the lucky end of the stick here. It’s just two today.
So for those poor souls in the UK who may not know, who are Fifth Harmony?
L: We are a girl band who came off the X Factor. We’re American, but it’s funny because none of us are actually fully American! Camila is Cuban-Mexican, Dinah’s Polynesian, Normani’s African-American, I’m Cuban-American and Ally is Mexican-American. We have a very ethnic vibe!
You guys had Simon Cowell as your mentor, what was it like working with him?
D: All five of us grew up watching him, dreaming that we could perform for him and then all of a sudden, we’re doing that on American X Factor. And then he becomes our mentor! He’s a really nice guy.
L: He’s very honest and very open to hearing us out, about what we think is right for our brand and for our music. I think that’s great. He always makes sure to remind us that we’re human and we deserve to have a say in what we’re doing. That’s really important in this industry, because so many people try to take that away from you.
So you feel part of a real creative process, making things that you want to put out into the world.
L: Exactly! Anything else would be fake. It gets to the point where it’s not an authentic reading of who we are. Simon is a huge part of that.
You have a new single too right? With Kid Ink on it?
L: That’s right! “Worth it!”
D: We kinda went into it thinking “Oh, let’s just record a song. That’d be cool. Whatever!” It was actually Kid Ink’s song first, so we turned it into a girl’s perspective and chopped it up. Then all of a sudden people started responding to it very well.
You’ve also been on tour with another judge, Demi Lovato.
L: That was so amazing. It was like a girl power tour, Little Mix was there, Cher Lloyd was there. We had a lot of fun. It was nerve-wracking, because obviously the audience is there for Demi and not necessarily for you!
Luckily people were really supportive. The arena was full by the time we went on first, so we didn’t have to perform to like, the two stragglers who came early just to see us!
Oh god, like a mall tour where you’re just performing to three people and their grandma.
[Laughs] And some random person wandering into the back of CVS like “who the hell is this?”
“We’re human and we deserve to have a say in what we’re doing.”
I heard you guys have your own Barbie dolls now.
[TWO LOUD SCREAMS]
D: Oh my god, yes, it’s so awesome. They look exactly like us down to moles on our faces!
L: We went over to Mattel and there were like, five different stations: an eye station, a hair station, wardrobe, face, skin tones. They have a person sitting at each one and their job is to make sure that it was ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.
I’m horribly jealous
L: Don’t worry babe, you’ll have your own Barbie someday. I’ll make it happen for you.
The only thing is, you must wonder who’s sleeping with that doll. That could be creepy.
D: Oh no!
L: Can you imagine? Like some forty year old man went in and bought one and is sleeping with it every night?
Gently stroking the hair and singing ‘Sledgehammer’ to it.
[TWO MORE LOUD SCREAMS]
D: You know what, if they bought my doll, I’m not gonna discriminate!
• Fifth Harmony are at G-A-Y @ Heaven (Under the Arches, Villiers Street, Charing Cross, WC2N 6NG) on Saturday 30th May, 11pm-5am.
• Discount entry wristbands available at G-A-Y Bar.
