Holy hot pants! Hooters has an official girl group!
The chow chain Âfamous for its wings (and breasts and thighs) is now Âserving up music with UC3, a R&B/dance trio from Tampa Bay. They will sign autographs today from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hooters on 56th St. between Broadway and Seventh Ave.
“We would like to be compared to TLC for the performing aspect and En Vogue for our vocals,” says UC3 member Tracy Williams, 17. “People will probably be like, ‘Oh, this is a publicity stunt with Hooters’ or whatever, but as soon as they hear us sing, it’s a different story.”
For billing themselves as the “Original Hooters Girl Group,” UC3 will get major exposure, including performances at restaurants around the country, Hooters promotional events at malls and a possible world tour next year.
Clustered around a table at the Manhattan franchise, Williams, Cristal Bermudez, 17, and Kristy Scott, 21, chat fast, often cutting each other off and erupting into fits of laughter. They are still adjusting to their newfound fame.
“My friend text-messaged me the other day like, ‘Nice pic in Entertainment Weekly,'” says Williams, a high school senior who takes English classes online. “I was like, ‘What?! Wow!'”
“Yeah!” chimes in Bermudez, who was crowned homecoming queen this fall. She is also the reigning Miss Teen St. Petersburg.
“It’s weird to have your friends look at you kind of different and say, ‘We are now official members of the UC3 fan club. We got our badges.’ I am like, ‘Is this a joke? Don’t play with me!’ You just never know!”
The two teens – who are too young to be Hooters Girl servers at the restaurant that sponsors them – have known each other since they took dance classes together at age 5.
Williams had a brief recording contract with Epic Records as a member of PYT when she was 12; Bermudez is a member of Florida’s all state choir.
Scott, also a former homecoming queen, was enlisted in UC3 via audition. She’s taking time off from college and plans to ditch her criminology major when she returns next year.
“I love mysteries and figuring out stuff like that, but all of the blood is not my forte,” she says.
Landing the deal with Hooters was a snap. Their agent lured contacts at the franchise to the Tampa house where UC3 practiced.
The reps found them such a hoot that they were enlisted to perform at the company’s swimsuit competition in Las Vegas in July, and the Hooters 20th Anniversary party in October. The chain’s official endorsement came a few weeks later.
A fashion line is on the way, part of a heavy retail merchandising campaign sponsored by the restaurant.
All this for a group whose debut CD, “I’m That Girl,” has yet to be picked up by a major record label.
And eager lads take note: Though all of the girls are single, they are not necessarily looking for love.
“We are waaaaay too busy for that right now,” says Williams, who insists the band is together for the long haul.
“We are trying to make a different category of our own in music,” says Bermudez. “A group that can sing and dance and is actually going to stay together.”