Cheeky Girls

In the proud tradition of U.K. groups that have one massively popular single and then fade from memory even more quickly than they appeared come the Cheeky Girls, Gabriela and Monica Irimia. Identical twins born on Halloween in Transylvania, the Cheeky Girls spent their adolescence studying voice, ballet, and modern dance. Gabriela and Monica switched from aspiring dancers to aspiring pop stars when they auditioned for the British talent search show Popstars: The Rivals, where they sang an early version of the song that became their trademark: "The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)," which was allegedly written by their mother just before their audition. Though the Cheeky Girls didn't make the cut on Popstars: The Rivals, the duo auditioned — unsuccessfully — for Model Behaviour, another British reality show, soon after. Monica and Gabriela's perseverance paid off when they signed to Multiply Records, a dance-pop label that features Sash!, Milky, and Phats & Small on its roster. Mulitiply released "The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)" as a single late in 2002; it debuted, aptly enough at number two, surrounded by singles from the other groups that Popstars: The Rivals spawned. It remained high in the charts for the rest of the year and into the early part of 2003.