2005 issue. The magazine described her as the contestant "who bared calm resolve and tanned hip bones in beating out almost 10,000 girls for the chance at singing and strutting in a P. Diddy–steered girl group". O'Day expressed anxiety about competing to be in the group. "I've been in the 'cut' situation several times," she stated. "It's hard to stand in a room and know that the dream I want is all in [Combs's] hands." O'Day had dropped out of college in order to participate in the competition. After seeing her dance, Combs was convinced that O'Day had "Black in her family" and further expressed this sentiment after watching her sing a version of "At Last" at a club during Season 1 of the show. This, along with what viewers saw as natural charisma, helped endear her to become a consistent favorite among judges and fans. Former Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync manager Johnny Wright, who served as one of the judges on the show, stated from her first audition in Los Angeles they knew that she was "a star". O'Day was eventually chosen to be in the group, and was the first member included. The band became known as Danity Kane, and their first album debuted on August 22, 2006, at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts. The group was the opening act for Christina Aguilera on the U.S. leg of her Back to Basics Tour with the Pussycat Dolls. O'Day's fame and physical features found appealing by magazines helped her broaden her career beyond the group. In addition to other musical projects, she posed for several "sexy" magazine spreads. On the August 28, 2008, episode of Making the Band, due to being consistently frustrated with O'Day's "oversexed" new image, Combs called O'Day "one of the worst dancers" in Danity Kane. He told O'Day that she no longer looked like the girl he signed and that she used to be one of the best. Combs bluntly accused O'Day of trying to expand her fame at the expense of the entire group, and that she liked flaunting her breasts and wearing big hair, referring to an incident where she had rubbed her cleavage on the arm of a television host. He asked himself why he was keeping O'Day in the group. On the October 7, 2008, episode of Making the Band, after continued debate with O'Day about the well-being of