Carmit Bachar (born September 4, 1974) is an American dancer, singer and actress. She was a member of the successful pop/R&B group, the Pussycat Dolls and was one of the main vocalists of the Pussycat Dolls, along with Nicole Scherzinger and Melody Thornton. Bachar departed the group in February 2008.
Bachar was born in Los Angeles, her father is Israeli and her mother is of Dutch, Indonesian and Chinese descent. She was raised in Encino, California. Both parents were dancers; her mother worked as a dance teacher and her father worked with Elvis Presley and Marcel Marceau. Bachar competed internationally as a rhythmic gymnast for 10 years, and placed 5th in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1992. During her career competing on the U.S. National Team, she attended Hamilton Academy of Music in Los Angeles, studying music, dance, piano and viola.
Bachar joined the Pussycat Dolls in 1995 while they were a burlesque show. She was a member of the Dolls longer than any other performer. Most of the current members, including lead singer Nicole Scherzinger, were cast by founder Robin Antin in 2002 or 2003, when the group was being transformed into pop recording artists. As with the other Dolls, she was a salaried employee of Interscope Records.
In 2006 and 2007, she toured with the Dolls in support of their multi-million selling album PCD.
In February 2008, reports surfaced that she was leaving the Pussycat Dolls to pursue solo projects. On March 8, 2008, Carmit officially announced her departure from the Pussycat Dolls on the group's official website.
Bachar has also appeared in several films, including 13 Going on 30, Along Came Polly, and 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle featuring the Pussycat Dolls.
In 1997, Bachar was credited as a dancer in the Nickelodeon Movies film, Good Burger.
As a freelance dancer she has toured or appeared live with several rock/pop acts. In 1999, she was the "Livin' La Vida Loca" woman in Ricky Martin's world tour. In 2003 No Doubt's world tour, and appears on stage with Gwen Stefani during "Bathwater" in No Doubt's DVD Rock Steady Live. In 2001 she was a dancer in Aaliyah's final video "Rock the Boat". In 2004 she was a back-up dancer for Janet Jackson during the infamous peek-a-boo Super Bowl half-time show. In 2003/2004 she was a dancer for Beyoncé's tours and appears in the 2004 DVD Beyoncé Live at Wembley. She appears in Beyoncé's music videos "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy". Bachar appears (along with fellow member of the Pussycat Dolls, Kimberly Wyatt) in the video "Shut Up" by The Black Eyed Peas. She has also appeared in Wyclef Jean's "Perfect Gentleman" and Macy Gray's "Sexual Revolution" videos.
In 2001 in Los Angeles, Bachar, Lee Cherry, Scarlett and others started an 'underground' nightclub called Freedom. This became the occasional "multi-genre cabaret" The Zodiac Party which was first held at the Hollywood Athletic Club, then The Key Club. As of 2006, Bachar is still co-producing the event, which is now called The Zodiac Show.
It has been reported that she wishes to form a non-profit organization called "Smile With Me": "I want to have my own charity for children and adults who are born with a cleft palate. I was born with one and I want to educate and inspire people by saying that inner beauty is more important than looks."
Bachar is an ambassador of "Operation Smile", a worldwide children’s medical charity that helps improve the health and lives of children and young adults born with facial deformities. In November 2007, she participated in an Operation Smile international medical mission in Bolivia, where she and her team organized creative stations for the kids like face and body painting, bookmaking, music and dance.
In an interview with E! from March 2008, she mentions that she will release a solo album in the future. In another interview with Savvy.com she said that she worked with Macy Gray and that her album will be released in 2009. In June 2008, a new song called Carmasutra appeared on Carmit's Myspace.
