American Idol has been getting quite abit of flack lately due to the show's having no probelm with current contestant Antonella Barba appearing in several sexy photos online while a few years ago,Frenchie Davis(who is now performing on Broadway in Rent) was kicked off the competition after lingerie pics of her became public. A civil rights group is claiming racism and Frenchie herself is not happy about the whole thing. Frenchie is not saying her dismissal was racially motivated" but I can certainly look at this and understand why people would draw that conclusion."
About Antonella,Frenchie has said "I'm not bashing `Idol' or Antonella. She's a beautiful girl and she's young. I think it's great that she didn't have to go through what I went through," and regarding the AI producers,she feels that an apology would be good but more than that,they should be sorry for"the manner in which I was humiliated and the manner in which Antonella was defended and protected by the same people who humiliated me."
Fox and AI refused to comment on the whole thing but one of the producers clearly seemed sympathic to Antonella in this statement to EW:"It's sad, isn't it, that your best friends are the ones that come forward with information that will go to Smoking Gun or put your photographs on the Web?" Where was that sentiment when Frenchie's photos were gossip fodder,I'd like to know!
I'm not an Antonella fan for two reasons: 1) her behavior during the early Hollywood audition rounds when she and her pal Amanda psyched out fellow contestant Baylie Brown showed her true character,which is sneaky and conniving,and 2)she can't sing to save her life. I don't care about the photos,one way or another. As Simon keeps saying,this is a SINGING competition and in terms of talent,Frenchie kicks Antonella's overexposed ass six ways to Sunday. Let's do some compare and contrast here-look at the auditions of both ladies:
FRENCHIE
ANTONELLA(with cohort Amanda)
And here they are in Hollywood week:
FRENCHIE w/Kimberley Locke
ANTONELLA,teaming up with Amanda against Baylie Brown
It's no secret that Vote for the Worst has picked Antonella as their poster girl this season for her continually bad performances like this painfull rendition of Aerosmith's "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing":
Her most recent musical crime was attempting to pull off Celine Dion's"Because You Loved Me"-song choice,people,song choice! It's very important:
I'm sure some of you are going"Well,just because she's on the show doesn't mean that Antonella will win. Besides,Frenchie has a good career now,just like Jennifer Hudson and lots of other people who didn't win." Yes,but Antonella is being given more of a chance to compete than Frenchie was at the time. Also,Frenchie's pictures were taken for one specfic website so that she could have enough money for school. Antonella's pics are the result of being wasted and popping her top in front of someone's cell phone camera. To me,that's a big difference.
Frenchie should have been allowed her moment in the sun because she had the voice to do so,period. Antonella will be singing again tonight while Frenchie is hitting those high notes on the Broadway stage. Which audience will be getting their money's worth,I wonder? As Judge Judy might say,beauty fades but talent is forever.
Let me start by saying that I do agree that Antonella is a horrible excuse for a singer.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I think you are comparing apples to oranges here. Antonella's pictures appear to be candid personal shots that some people close to her had in their possession. Frenchie, on the other hand, was paid to pose nude for an internet porn site (from The Smoking Gun). I find it to be quite a different offense to have been compensated for nude photos for use as porn. I think our country is quick to jump on anything that could possibly be spun as racism. We should all relax a bit before jumping to conclusions. Let's not forget that Frenchie is getting great publicity from this.
I see your point,Andy,but I don't think that Frenchie was kicked off due to racism-in my opinion,it was a body size issue. Frenchie is a plus size gal while Antonella is slender with conventional beauty,which counts for alot of her popularity.
ReplyDeleteI did mention that Frenchie's pics were paid for while Antonella's were not(we have very different ideas about "candid personal shots",you and I). I don't neccessarily condemn someone for posing nude or consider it an offense. There's no evidence to suggest that Frenchie's photo shoot was anything but a one time deal to get some quick cash. Not the best of ways but certainly not the worst.
Also,I hate to say it but some young women today buy into this whole Girls Gone Wild mentality that it's cool to expose yourself in public for any camera nearby. I'm not saying that's what Antonella did but she's also getting great publicity from this,too. In fact,more publicity than Frenchie recieved when her pictures came to light.
Hell yea, Frenchie was wronged. They booted her because there was no precedence for such matters. It also didn't help that she was full figured, which is a tough sell compared to Carrie Underwood. It wasn't racist but it was still based on looks.
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