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"Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" is a song by Indian composer A. R. Rahman and American girl group the Pussycat Dolls featuring Nicole Scherzinger. It is an English language remake of the original Hindi song "Jai Ho" composed by Rahman, that was included on the soundtrack to the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The remix was conceived by record producers Jimmy Iovine and Ron Fair who tasked lead singer Scherzinger to rewrite her own version while staying true to the original melody with the assistance of Ester Dean, Fair Evan Bogart, Erika Nuri, David Quiñones, Nailah Thorbourne, Nyanda Thorbourne, and Candace Thorbourne. The remake preserves the production elements of the original song while the Hindi words are replaced with English lyrics that are solely sang by Scherzinger.

"Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" was issued for digital download on February 23, 2009 and promoted reissues of Doll Domination (2008) such as the extended play (EP) version, The Mini Collection (2009). The song listed Scherzinger as a featured artist, causing internal friction within the group and a public outburst during a tour appearance. Music critics deemed the remix to be inferior to the original while some felt the marketing move was "brilliant". The song topped several charts worldwide, including in Australia, Finland, Ireland, Israel and Romania, as well as reaching top three in New Zealand, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In the United States it peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, after achieving one of the biggest single-week jump in Hot 100's history. It was awarded platinum certifications in Australia, New Zeland, and the United Kingdom.

Background
In 2008, Danny Boyle's drama Slumdog Millionaire starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto was released to critical acclaim. Indian composer, A. R. Rahman created the film's soundtrack which was also acclaimed, and includes the most prominent song of the movie, "Jai Ho". The song is included in the final scene of the movie where the characters of Patel and Pinto dance a Bollywood-style musical number. While watching the movie, record executive Jimmy Iovine felt that Pinto resembled Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, and was interested in turning "Jai Ho" into a "pop record without deviating from the original melody". Scherzinger was asked by Iovine and Fair to see the movie and and rewrite her own version of "Jai Ho". Scherzinger was hesitant to doing her own version stating, "[...] I was scared to death to touch it. I was afraid for people to hear it before I even wrote it." She was eventually encouraged to work on the project as she found the movie "profound". "I didn't know how to make sure I kept the integrity of the movie and the love story, but also make it cool enough for the Pussycat Dolls and for people all over the world to connect to."

Production began in mid-January, where Iovine and Rahman met up in Los Angeles and lay down groundwork for the remix of "Jai Ho". The former along with Fair enlisted several lyricists to create English lyrics that satisfied competing goals. "The challenge was not to make it too literal, too uncool. We were trying to make something that would appeal to contemporary music fans, yet still be true to the story of the film." Fair then met with Scherzinger in Europe, who was touring with the Pussycat Dolls on their Doll Domination Tour (2009). Scherzinger states her writing comes from her heart and "a very spiritual place" as she wanted the track to appeall to everyone regardless of their relationship. Speaking about how the song was created, co-writer Evan Kidd Bogart said that "they [ Fair and Iovine ] wanted to get a bunch of different versions to see who could nail a version for the Pussycat Dolls." He recalled that once all interpretations were complete, "they [Fair and Iovine] took parts of The Writing Camp version, parts of Ester Dean's version, and parts of another version, and they put them together, and then Nicole [Scherzinger] and Ron [Fair] filled in the blanks that they thought were missing". Bogart additionally stated that it was "a very unique and awkward way of writing a song". Scherzinger recorded her vocals at studios in various cities around England and corresponded with Rahman via Skype, who was located in his residence in Chennai, India. Production lasted month.

Release and billing controversy
"Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" premiered on DesiHits and was issued for digital download, a day after Rahman won Best Original Song for "Jai Ho" and Best Original Score for the soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire at the 81st Academy Awards. The producers planned to release the song after the awards ceremony, regardless if the original was honored or not. On March 2, 2009, Interscope Records serviced the track to US contemporary hit radio and two days later it was serviced to US alternative radio. The song was released in support of 2009 reissues of Doll Domination (2008), which is considered a commercial disappointment in the US; Billboard magazine's Gary Graff noted they sold less than 400,000 copies by April 2009. Scherzinger explained to Graff that they were looking for new ways to promote the album. "In this industry these days, that's what we're trying to do, always put new music out there and get people to pay attention. So this is a way for people to get new songs of ours and for people who haven't picked up the album so far to get another spin of our music." "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" listed Scherzinger as a featured artist, while follow up single "Hush Hush; Hush Hush" also initially listed Scherzinger on the song; this led to dissatisfaction with other members, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton, and Kimberly Wyatt, while media reports speculated that Scherzinger's exit from the group was imminent.

Composition
Musically, the new mix preserves the original's electronic dance beats, Japanese taiko drums, and soaring Hindi melodies adds vocals of a rough English translation of the Hindi lyrics, sung by Nicole Scherzinger.

Critical reception
Allison Stewart of the Chicago Tribune described "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" as a "family-friendly hit" and added that it "quite possibly, resuscitated their careers." An editor of Newsround praised Scherzinger's vocal abilities for "hitting all the high notes." Nick Levine of Digital Spy awarded "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" three out of five stars opining that he was skeptical of the collaboration while noting that the original is "far more urgent and atmospheric." Nevertheless he wrote "that hollered 'JAI HO!' [sic] makes for a pretty sweet pop hook." Melinda Newman of HitFix was critical of the Pussycat Dolls' version. Although deemed the marketing move as "brilliant," Newman wondered "why can't Top 40 radio play the real thing?." She went on to criticize Scherzinger's "anodyne" vocals that "are no match for Sukhwinder Singh's soaring singing."

Andrew Unterberger of Spin magazine described the Pussycat Dolls' version as a "thoroughly unnecessary single version" of the original.

Fraser McAlpine from the BBC found the billing to be "redundant" but praised the aspects of the production adding "this smashing together of different ideas and rhythms and cultures is dazzling".

Commercial reception
In the United States, "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" was combined with "Jai Ho" and debuted at number 100 on the US Billboard Hot 100, experiencing an increase of 248% and selling 22,000 downloads. The song rose to number 15 on the chart the next week after vaulting 85 positions, making "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" the biggest single-week jump from number 100 in the Hot 100's history and one of the biggest single-week jump overall. The song is also the highest-ranking Academy Award winner for Best Original Song since Eminem's "Lose Yourself" which peaked the summit for 12 weeks in 2002-2003. It experienced a near 500% sales increase, selling 130,000 downloads and claiming the week's greatest Digital Gainer on the Hot 100 chart. On the Hot Digital Tracks chart the two versions were listed separately, with the soundtrack version being more popular, selling 103,000 downloads. The Pussycat Dolls' version sold 27,000 downloads, however it did receive more radio airplay, debuting at number 47 on the Pop 100 Airplay with 5 million audience impressions. On the Mainstream Top 40, "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" debuted and peaked at number 37, becoming Rahman's first airplay hit and the Pussycat Dolls' eigth chart entry. On the Canadian Hot 100 it fared better, peaking at number four, seven weeks into the chart.

In the United Kingdom, "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" entered the UK Singles Chart in the final week of March 2009. In its third week, the song peaked at number three after selling 44,128 downloads. By October 2017, it had sold 605,000 copies in the country and amassed 5.3 million streams to become the Pussycat Doll's second biggest selling single, behind their debut single "Don't Cha" (2005), and the 33rd best-selling song by a girl group. In June 2015, the song was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for track-equivalent sales of 600,000 units in the United Kingdom. In Ireland, "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" became the group's second single to reach the summit of the Irish Singles Chart.

In Australia, Rahman made his first appearance on the ARIA Singles Chart, as "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" debuted at number ten.

Music video
The music video for "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" was directed by Thomas Kloss, who directed the Pussycat Dolls' previous single "Bottle Pop". The group filmed their scenes at the Vienna Transport Museum Remise in Vienna, Austria on the day of the 81st Academy Awards, while Rahman filmed his scenes in Los Angeles several days prior. It was filmed in the train museum in backdrop of antique trains, to recreate the final scene of the movie, Slumdog Millionaire.

The music video begins with Scherzinger walking around the train station and being followed by a mysterious man, while her bandmates record him. It resembles to scenes of Slumdog Millionaire being heavily influenced by Bollywood movies.

The group are surrounded by people in "colorful attire mill" who are "dancing enthusiastically to the beat".

Choreographers Robin Antin, who is the founder of the Pussycat Dolls, and Mikey Minden were nominated for Best Choreography at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Live performances
"Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" was performed throughout the Pussycat Dolls' supporting slot on the The Circus Starring Britney Spears. On March 10, 2009, the Pussycat Dolls performed "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" for the first time on television on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, wearing Indian-inspired outfits. While the Pussycat Dolls opened for Spears, the group went on to perform "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" on MuchOnDemand in Toronto, Canada on March 18 with "I Hate This Part", on March 28 on the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards with "When I Grow Up", and on April 20 on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. On May 13, 2009, the group performed the song in an episode of One Life to Live. Beginning May 16, 2009, "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" was included as one of the encore songs on the set list the group's Doll Domination Tour before ending with "When I Grow Up".

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Doll Domination.


 * Personnel


 * Deepak P.A. – engineering
 * Ron Fair – English vocal production
 * Tal Herzberg – engineering, Pro Tools
 * Peter Mokran – mixing
 * A. R. Rahman – producer
 * Nicole Scherzinger – English vocal production
 * H. Sridhar – engineering