Black Eyed Peas got up to more than performing when they were last in New Zealand – the quartet dropped by Parnell’s York Street Studios in Auckland to record a cover of ‘Quando Quando Quando’ for the movie musical ‘Nine’, which singer Fergie plays an Italian prostitute.

The classic song, ‘Quando Quando Quando’ was originally written by Alberto Testa and Tony Renis in the early 1960’s and made famous crooner Engelbert Humperdinck. In 2005, Michael Buble teamed up with fellow Canadian Nelly Furtado for a modern rendition of the track.

Fergie plays the character Saraghina in the film alongside other heavy-weight Hollywooders Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cottilard, Kate Hudson and Judi Dench. The movie, which comes out in December, was helmed by Chicago director Rob Marshall who apparently asked Fergie to stack on the pounds for her role.

Fergs also went above and beyond to perfect her, erm, required skills. The Black Eyed Peas star tells WENN, "I watched all the Fellini films and studied Italian actresses; how they walked and how they spoke with their hands. Whenever I would sit down, I would never cross my legs because that's not how Saraghina would sit; she wasn't a lady. I would walk in a different physicality than I use myself. I tried to become Italian, I tried to become Saraghina."

It’s been a cracker of a year for the BEPs. Their two singles, ‘Boom Boom Pow’ and ‘I Gotta Feeling’, spent a combined 26 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and nine weeks at number one in NZ before being knocked off by Beyonce’s ‘Sweet Dreams’.

It isn’t the first time the band has recorded material in New Zealand - on their last tour here, they also headed to York St Studio to work on new material.

Courtesy of Real Groove Magazine

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