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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > July > 03
Thursday, July 3, 2008
7/4: Frenchie Davis interview promoting Atlanta Pride Festival
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Frenchie Davis has managed just fine without “American Idol,” thank you very much.
After she was unceremoniously booted in 2003 from the show because of topless photos of her landing on the Web, the vocally talented Davis landed a job singing on Broadway’s “Rent,” a job she kept for four years.
“I’ve been making a living doing what I love to do,” she said. “My major in college was theater so I was already groomed for it.”
Not that it was easy. “I had no life,” she said. “I couldn’t go out on weekends. I had to make necessary adjustments to do live theater.” But she admired the dedicated “Rentheads” who have seen the play 100 times and can mouth all the words. “You get used to seeing them hanging out at the theater,” she said. “They get used to seeing you.”
She’s only had one stalker problem, a dude who got her cel phone number and sent a picture of his penis. She had to call the cops and he never bothered her again.
She grew up in Los Angeles and prefers her hometown over New York: “I didn’t like the smell of urine outside the apartment I’m paying $2,500 a month in rent for.”
In recent months, she had been recuperating from surgery to remove a polyp from her left vocal cord. She’s now fully recovered. “My voice is back,” she said. “It’s weird because I have had this polyp for years on my vocal cord. I had speech therapy and now certain notes come out way easier than they used to. I don’t have to work as hard.
Unlike most “Idol” alums, she has no need or desire right now to cut an album. “That’s not my priority right now,” she said. “I’m focused on pursuing my theater career. I’m even considering my education. I think at some point I might get my masters. That’s what I’m debating on.”
This fall, she joins Ruben Studdard in a touring production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” that hits the Fox Theater this November. And she will appear Friday at the Atlanta Civic Center with CeCe Peniston, Thelma Houston and Expose for the Atlanta Pride Festival.
“I’ve done a lot of prides,” she said. “Los Angeles. Boston. Albuquerque, Cincinnati. As a college student, one way I made money was singing in local gay clubs. That’s always been my first audience. They embraced me. They’ve supported me and appreciated my talent so when they call for me to perform, I always say yes!” And she’s looking forward to Atlanta. “My father just moved there!”
Her take on her Thelma Houston (“Don’t Leave Me This Way”): “That b** can sing!” CeCe Peniston (best known for the song “Finally”): “Some people have instruments that recordings don’t do justice. Her voice is ridiculous live.”
She plans to sing some Whitney, throw in a new dance song called “You Are.” “We’ll play it by ear,” she said. “I have to preserve my voice.”
And she’s not big on talking about “Idol.” I figure she didn’t like the way she sounded last year when she commented about how Antonella Barba got away with naughty photos on the Web and didn’t get cut but she did. In retrospect, it does seem pretty unfair.
