Danity Kane Singer Takes Second Shot at Reality TV Stardom

Reality TV vet Michael Hirschorn is among the executive producers for Oxygen’s upcoming “The Aubrey O’Day Project”

Aubrey O'Day, who was one fifth of the Diddy-created band Danity Kane from the third season of "Making The Band," is getting another reality TV show. "The Aubrey O'Day Project" will air on Oxygen.

The network greenlit an unspecified number of episodes of the show, which is being billed as a new "docu-series" that will follow O'Day as she "launches the next stage of her career." Senior vice president of original programming and development Amy Introcaso-Davis announced the show on Tuesday.

“Young women have watched the ups and downs of Aubrey through the years and they continue to cheer her on, we’re excited to deliver her story as she battles the issues that resonate with our audience – from self doubt and body image, to an intense desire for success and redemption,” Introcaso-Davis said.

O'Day was chosen by Diddy to be the lead singer of Danity Kane, which recorded a No. 1 album and two Top Ten singles from 2006-2009. During her time in the group, O'Day tried to branch out with several magazine spreads and other solo media appearances. Diddy kicked O'Day out of Danity Kane in 2008.

It's interesting that Oxygen and O'Day think she has a viable second shot at stardom since neither Diddy or the general public seemed to warm to her the first time around when she had a much larger platform. 

It's also worth noting that the network is trying to bill "The Aubrey O'Day Project" as something more than a typical reality show, but the idea of this show as some kind of serious exploration of young womanhood seems like nothing but hype. The announcement for the show said: "At 26 years old and a little more worldly, it’s time for O’Day to tackle the tough questions. Will she find Mr. Right? Can she prove to the industry that she has the star power to get back on top?"

"The Aubrey O'Day Project" sounds like it will be nothing more than the standard pseudo-celebrity reality trainwreck. In fact, the show will be brought to life by the auteur of the B-List reality trash genre– Michael Hirschorn.

As VH1's ex-head of programming, Hirschorn was credited with a string of hits that launched the boom in shows starring washed up celebrities and former reality contestants. Hirschorn's hits at VH1 included "Rock of Love" as well as Flavor Flav's "Flavor of Love" franchise and all of its ensuing spinoffs.

Hirschorn left VH1 in early 2008, after seven years at the network, to found his own company — Ish Entertainment. In just two years of existence Ish has already spawned several trashy reality shows including "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" and the upcoming "Flavor Flav Goes Back to High School."

"The Aubrey O'Day Project" will be executive produced by Ish Entertainment along with Hirschorn, Madison Merritt and Wendy Roth.  

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