From 'Star Search' To The Dance Club

Danielle Bollinger Brings Hot Music, Positive Image To Dance Scene

(CBS)  With the pop stars of yore now busy with babies or divorce papers, the stage is wide open for a new queen to step up and shake her thing.

That's where Danielle Bollinger comes in. She gave up her steady job as a pharmaceutical rep and moved from Detroit to Nashville to try and make it as a singer. The risk paid off — now Bollinger's album, "When The Broken Hearted Love Again," is generating singles that are tearing up the club charts.

Bollinger, who sang with a wedding band while working at her day job, turned heads when she appeared on the latest revival of the talent show "Star Search." She ended up losing — by two-tenths of a point. But she says the experience was worth it.

"I just told myself that as long as I get out there and do the best job that I possibly can, it doesn't really matter if you win or lose," Bollinger told The ShowBuzz's Judy Faber. "I didn't take it as a negative thing. I took it as ‘OK, challenge yourself even more.'"

"Star Search" soon turned into dance clubs. The title track from her album hit No. 1 on XM satellite radio's dance station and spent 17 weeks near the top of the Billboard Club Play charts.

"My home is the stage," Bollinger said. "I transform into a different person on stage — someone who loves what she does."

The singer is also vocal about loving her body — embracing her curvy frame and posing in nothing more than headphones and a pair of jeans for promotional pictures.

"I have younger sisters who look up to me, and I want them to grow up knowing it's OK to… love who you are, no matter if you're a size 2 or a size 20."

"I'm not your typical thin, 'skinny-mini' artist," she continued. "And I take a lot pride in feeling strong about that."

Bollinger also says her varied musical tastes — ranging from Eminem to Martina McBride —all influenced the dance music on her album.

"You can hear the pop, you can hear the blues, jazz, country — you can hear it all in there," she said. "I'm a little bit of everything wrapped up into a positive energy."