"Poison" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Nicole Scherzinger for her debut solo studio album, Killer Love (2011).

It was produced by RedOne, BeatGeek and Jimmy Joker, and is distinctively different from Scherzinger's previous attempts at releasing solo material.

Scherzinger performed "Poison" live for the first time on the seventh series of The X Factor on November 28, 2010, to coincide with the song's UK release.

Both the show's judges and studio audiences gave her a standing ovation, with the media later praising her energy, choreography and live vocals.

An accompanying music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, sees Scherzinger take on the role of a female superhero and switches between a good-girl and bad-girl persona.

[4] The song was recorded in a nighttime studio session while she was competing on season 10 of the U.S. reality competition, Dancing with the Stars, and was mastered on May 23, 2010, ready for its premiere on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS FM radio show the following day.

[5] Idolator was unimpressed with the "treacly pop tune" saying that the lack of sexiness, "uninspiring message" and "squeaky vocals" did Scherzinger no favors.

[6] However, Amos Barshad of New York magazine actually liked the song, stating that "there’s none of the Pussycat Doll’s forced sexiness here; instead, it sounds like something that could have just missed the final cut on a Kelly Clarkson album (that is sort of supposed to be a compliment, yeah).

"The lead Pussycat Doll has thoughts of using a deadly elixir on the dance floor, singing through a fuzzy filter over bombastic synthesizers."

"[11] Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music stated that he thought the song was not as good as "Toxic" by Britney Spears but was incredibly similar.

After dubbing it a weaker version of "Toxic", he said, "And that just leaves us here with a song ['Poison'] which is all stomp and huff, a dramatic bang of a thing, which seeks to drag all the bad girls to the dancefloor so they can holler their evil intentions to into the faces of nervous men.

[25] The music video for "Poison" was filmed over one day in an empty warehouse in Los Angeles, with Joseph Kahn serving as the director and Rich & Tone as the choreographers.

As the song progresses, Scherzinger is shown in a classic looking automobile and riding a BMW motorcycle, with a streaking white and black background.

As the bridge begins, she is shown in her good-girl ego standing by a podium, talking to a group of reporters while waving her hands in the air.

"[29] Scherzinger performed "Poison", live for the first time, on November 28, 2010, during the week eight results show on series seven of The X Factor UK.

[31] Elena Gorgan of Softpedia agreed to say that Scherzinger wowed the "explosive" performance, earning her a standing ovation from the judges and audience.

[32] The following day, she reprised the performance on ITV's breakfast show, Daybreak[33] before heading to London's Westfield Shopping Centre where she appeared on live screens to promote sports brand Reebok.