Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Welcome to the Clique Girlz

Ariel Moore, Paris Monroe, Destinee Monroe (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By Peter Larsen Orange County Register

The three young blondes walked down the orange carpet at Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards, dressed in the hip fashions of a band, though no one seemed to know who they were.

“We felt really awkward because people thought they knew us, but they really didn’t,” says Paris Monroe, at 12 years old the youngest member of the Clique Girlz pop-rock trio.

“It was at that kind of stage where you’re still developing, so we were just kind of, ‘Walk, walk, walk!’ ”

Five months later, the young group – in addition to Paris, there’s sister Destinee Monroe, 14, and best friend Ariel Moore, 14 – is on the verge of breaking big.

They’ve been featured on Radio Disney and the “Today Show.” They sang the national anthem in front of 50,000 people at the Tokyo Dome for the opening of the baseball season. They’ve opened concerts for the Backstreet Boys and the Jonas Brothers.

The girls are from New Jersey originally, where Destinee and Ariel met at the water fountain at school one day five years ago.

Soon the three of them were inseparable, having karaoke sleepovers and accompanying one another to auditions in New York.

“We were all singing separately, and actually Ariel asked me and Destinee if we could sing together with her on stage,” Paris says. “So we went into the bathroom – kind of awkward! – and put a little routine together.”

They did the song – Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” – “and everyone was freaking out,” she says. “Almost two years ago, we had a meeting in Los Angeles and we actually ended up staying and never going home.”

Steve Berman of Interscope Records says the girls “immediately captivated the building, and we literally grabbed them on the spot, because it was so exciting, the talent so immense for such young girls.”

The label started making plans for the Clique Girlz, matching them up with songwriters and producers, getting them spots on TV and opening for other bands, even arranging to get a song in the “Princess Bride” video game.

They also spent a lot of time in the studio, where they’ve recorded 90 songs so far.

“We were actually experimenting, because we wanted to tune into our musical side, and really find what kind of songs we wanted to do,” Paris says.

“And it actually worked, because we found our sound was pop-rock, kind of edgy.”

An album is slated for a fall release, they’ve shot “Web-isodes” for fans to watch at www.cliquegirlz.com.

All of which suggests that if they show up at the Kids Choice Awards next spring, they’ll get a lot more attention.

“Oh, yeah, we’ll definitely go to the Kids Choice Awards next year,” Paris says. “And we want to perform so bad, perform or present.

“We just think it would be pretty cool to be up on stage there.”

The birthday bunch

Game show host Monty Hall is 87. Actor Sean Connery is 78. Talk host Regis Philbin is 77. Actor Tom Skerritt is 75. Bassist Gene Simmons (Kiss) is 59. Musician Elvis Costello is 54. Director Tim Burton is 50. Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus is 47. Actor Blair Underwood is 44. Singer Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) is 41. TV chef Rachael Ray is 40. Model Claudia Schiffer is 38. Actor Kel Mitchell (“Kenan and Kel”) is 30. Actress Rachel Bilson (“The O.C.”) is 27.