Singer, songwriter, actress, and now, THE X FACTOR judge and mentor, Nicole Scherzinger is not only beautiful and talented, but her emotional commentary and feisty bantering with fellow judge Simon Cowell has definitely made her mark on the show.

Nicole should know a thing or two about being in a singing competition. In 2001, she was in the talent reality series Popstars and won a place as one of the lead vocalists in the all-girl group Eden’s Crush. The group ended up scoring the Top 10 single “Get Over Yourself (Goodbye).” Two years later, she joined the Pussycat Dolls, which became a worldwide phenomenon and went on to win two Billboard Music Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.

We caught up with Nicole and got the scoop about her upcoming performance on THE X FACTOR this coming Thursday, when she’ll be making a debut of her latest single “Pretty.” “I can’t wait for my fans to hear it,” she says. “The lyrics are unbelievable and hopefully people can relate to it.”

And what was the story behind the song? According to Nicole, Babyface showed up to her dressing room earlier this season and they had a chat about him writing a song for her to debut on THE X FACTOR stage. “It’s a song that I’ve done with Babyface who’s a brilliant writer,” she explains. “This is really coming from my heart and soul, so hope you feel it.”

As for performing in front of the judges, especially Simon, Nicole tells us, “I’m not particularly nervous with Simon because I know I have his support. What people don’t see is that we really are a family. I am nervous, however, to perform the song because I’ve never performed it before. We just finished recording it and we’re still working on the production of it.”

Of course, we had to ask what was on everyone’s mind. How was she feeling after Rachel Crow’s elimination last week? “I accidentally ran into some Twitter messages and that broke my heart,” she says. “I should just stay off Twitter from now on and just continue to give love to the world because a lot of people need it. I believe in what I do. I don’t have any regrets. I own my decisions and I’m excited about this week.”

We’re also excited about this week, since all the contestants will perform two songs again, including the Pepsi Challenge songs, which were chosen by the fans.

“My focus this week is, first of all, to make Josh shine and help him to be the best he can be. And working on my flipping performance that I’ve never done, which is going to be really exciting!” she adds.

Be sure to tune in this Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 8/7C on FOX for the Top 4 performances and this Thursday, Dec. 15 for the results show, and performances by our very own Nicole and Florence + the Machine!

We invite everyone to vote for the photo that you like most. Here you have to choose from four pictures. Voting will last for 3 days!

The judges from The X Factor — Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger, L.A. Reid and Paula Abdul — appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Monday, where the gorgeous ex-Pussycat Doll “owned [up to her] decision” to defer the vote of Rachel Crow to viewers, who promptly sent the emotional 13-year-old home.

“It’s crazy, because in the moment and under pressure, it’s not as easy to just be like, ‘Hey, this what I’m going to do and you’re going home’ and you have to say, ‘I’m sending you home,‘” the Jai Ho singer told Kimmel. “I owned the decision that I made right then.”

Scherzinger added, “I’m really happy for Rachel because I think she has a deal with Disney now.”

Watch the X Factor judges talking to Jimmy Kimmel below:

Nicole Scherzinger visits Extra at The Grove on December 9, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.

Nicole talks with Extra about X Factor at The Grove: