Controversy may have gotten Frenchie Davis booted off American Idol, but it landed her in a successful Broadway career. Soon, Season 2 champ Ruben "Velvet Teddy Bear" Studdard will be joining her onstage. "I'm so excited," Davis tells TV Guide. "I can't say too much, but we're doing a revival of a Broadway show." Studdard, who has been touring with Robin Givens in the play Heaven, I Need a Hug, may have tipped his hand during an interview with the Atlanta Constitution when he said he's been prepping to play Fats Walker in a tour of Ain't Misbehavin'.Davis, who just finished a four-year run in Rent, wasn't surprised to learn that her former cast mate is tackling theater. "He's so talented," she says. "This role is going to be good for him." Will the part pit the two as love interests? "It depends on how they direct it," she says coyly. — Reporting by Bekah Wright
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The upcoming Broadway musicalization of The First Wives Club may not yet be finished, but that doesn't mean casting can't begin. The New York Daily News hears that Queen Latifah called producers to express an interest in playing the Goldie Hawn role. Long live nontraditional casting.... Per Playbill.com, Idol alum Frenchie Davis will showcase her powerhouse pipes in Mahalia — A Gospel Musical, at Hartford Stage in August.... Mel Brooks confirms Young Frankenstein's casting rumors and adds that the show will most likely bow at the Hilton Theater, whose current tenant, The Pirate Queen, is about to walk the plank. — Reporting by Raven Snook.
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This just came in from American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, regarding statements Rosie O'Donnell made on Tuesday's The View about Idol's seeming double standard vis-à-vis Frenchie vs Antonella:"Without wishing to add to the obvious self-promotion of Ms. O'Donnell, I feel as though I must refute her absurd and ridiculous claims that American Idol is racist and/or weightist. Ms. O'Donnell has, once again, spoken without thought or knowledge. Viewers need only look at the show tonight to realize that American Idol constantly confirms to America that talent has nothing to do with weight or color."UPDATE: TMZ.com is now reporting that Idol is further retaliating against Rosie and The View by forbidding the ABC talker from showing clips from television's highest-rated series.UPDATE: On Wednesday's Idol, Simon Cowell gave Antonella Barba props for her fortitude in the midst of the media circus, if not for her singing. "I feel for you because you've taken a lot of stick in ...
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Claiming that a double standard has allowed Antonella Barba to remain in the current competition, despite having posed for racy photos that have surfaced online, disgraced American Idol alum Frenchie Davis is calling on the überpopular reality series to "come to the table and see what we can do to make up" for her own 2003 booting. Davis tells the Associated Press that while a public apology from Idol would be "a great start," she feels she is owed more "for the manner in which I was humiliated" and ousted from the contest when topless photos of herself came to the fore. Though Davis doesn't necessarily think that racism is at play here, others do. Civil-rights activist Najee Ali (of Project Islamic H.O.P.E.), for one, objects "to having one rule for black contestants, and a different rule for whites who exhibit the same behavior." "Same behavior," in this particular reference, not meaning Barba's thin, pitchy singing.UPDATE: Girls Gone Wild autuer Joe Francis has offered Anton...
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