'AMERICAN IDOL' DOUBLE EXPOSURE DOUBLE STANDARD
Giggles
Either they left out the spread on the WWII memorial and the touchy feely
girls gone wild photos, or they don't know about those yet.
http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur31852.cfm
'AMERICAN IDOL' DOUBLE EXPOSURE DOUBLE STANDARD
Ousted 2003 hopeful Frenchie Davis speaks exclusively to EUR.
Singer feels mistreated and wants 'a public apology' from show.
(March 5, 2007)
There is a new scandal brewing on "American Idol," the Fox Network's
hit TV competition that is no stranger to incidents, which have led to the
dismissal of one or two contestants.
The latest involves 20-year-old contestant Antonella Barba who has
been the subject of much speculation after pictures surfaced on the Internet
showing a woman, purportedly Barba, lying on her back covered in rose
petals, posing in her underwear, sitting on a toilet and performing oral sex
on a man.
And while such may have caused scandal in the past for the show,
interestingly, the pornographic web photos are apparently of no concern this
time around.
That's right; Barba has not been released from the show. A spokesman
for the Fox Network only had to say that the show does not comment on
contestant's personal lives and even infamous judge Simon Cowell only
reprimanded Barba's so-called friends for leaking the photos. Yet and still,
Barba's alleged photos are not really the scandal.
However, TV fans might recall four years ago, on season 2 of the show,
when Franchelle "Frenchie" Davis was disqualified from the show for
appearing topless in photos on the Internet. Scandalous!
The show has been quite quiet about the Barba brouhaha as well as
Barba herself, but Davis had a few things to say.
"I had stopped watching 'American Idol'," Davis admitted, "and I've
tried to avoid even speaking about or thinking about what happened four
years ago. But I couldn't help but overhear what was happening with
Antonella. I couldn't help but notice the manner in which she was dealt with
was the complete opposite of how I was dealt with."
Another difference in the situations is that Davis actually told the
producers about her, well, indiscretions beforehand.
"When I first discovered that I had made it to Hollywood and found out
I would be competing to get into the top 30 and then later in the top 12,
they had given us all this paperwork to fill out, background checks and that
whole thing. So when we were doing that I had a discussion with some members
of the production staff and I exposed to them a piece of my past; that when
I was 19 years old, I took some pictures and that's not the person I am
[anymore]. I wanted to be upfront about it. We talked about it and then
nothing happened," she said.
Nothing happened at that point, but two months later, Davis was canned
from the show.
"They had decided that because 'American Idol' was a family show, that
they could not have me on the show because of the pictures I had taken -
though they had never seen the pictures," she recalled.
Davis told the EUR that no one was even able to find the pictures on
the Internet and that the website the pictures were originally on didn't
even exist anymore.
"I gave them the benefit of the doubt," Davis said, resolved during
the incident. "And when I learned that pictures had surfaced of this young
lady, I didn't really think anything of it. But when it came out that they
had decided they were not going to kick her off the show, that - to say the
least - raised an eyebrow."
To say the least. Let's just add to the mix a few more differences in
the situations: Davis' photos, while topless, were modeling lingerie, Barba's
are of sex acts; Davis is plus size, Barba is thin; and then there's the
fact that Davis is black, Barba is white. Whichever 'ism you wanna pick,
among the double exposures is a double standard.
Davis explained to EUR's Lee Bailey that her humble reaction to the
double standard is because she feels her fans expect that of her. Even when
asked what she would like for the show to do to make it right, Davis couldn't
really think of what to demand, only joking that the network could write her
a check. But after thinking about it, Davis contacted EUR through her rep
and said that the Fox Network and the producers of "American Idol" could
start by "issuing her a public apology and then she would negotiate with
them from there."
And while Davis is a bit modest, though disappointed, Project Islamic
Hope activist Najee Ali has taken up the singer's cause and organized an
"Anti 'American Idol' Rally" in support of Davis.
"We feel a coalition of leaders [should] meet with Fox and 'American
Idol' producers to set some guidelines down because they can't have a rule
for white contestants and have different rule for black contestants," Ali
said. "It's obvious that it's a racial bias ... when you have a situation
where a black contestant is punished and a similar situation happens to a
white contestant and there is no punishment and they're allowed to continue
on the show."
The rally and press conference will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, at 11
am in front of the Kodak Theater in Hollywood where the show is broadcast.
Ali will be joined by season one "Idol" producer Tarvenia Jones, Davis (via
phone), and Davis' manager Belinda Foster. (For more on the rally, click
here.)
Just as Davis went on with her life after being booted from the show,
she says that while she will speak out on the issue, she will continue to
pursue her goals.
"This is my career and this is what I want to do long term," she said.
"I'm certainly not interested in pissing people off, but this is an
unfairness that can't' be ignored."
Davis is currently starring in "Rent" on Broadway, but is leaving the
cast on May 24, to give herself more time to pursue other auditions and
opportunities.
After an equipment malfunction, EUR's Lee Bailey got Frenchie back on
the phone to discuss her thoughts on the "American Idol" scandal and what
appears to be a double standard. Listen below to the unedited interview.
tim
This is a situation where a contestant posed for a topless website and
was payed for it.
The current situation is that these pictures were for friend, and she
was betrayed by that friend, and not for distribution through a pay website.
Look, barbarella cannot sing, and will be booted this week...
Frenchie could have done very well, and i was upset when she was booted.
But, the fact remains... sometimes our past comes back to haunt us.
Besides, they booted a WHITE guy this year because he wouldnt shave his
beard....
Karrde
"tim" <rem...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:45edf65a$0$5804$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
> Stop trying to make this into a "black" racist situation!!!!
It's not the first time, tim.
> This is a situation where a contestant posed for a topless website and was
> payed for it.
Frenchie also pretended to be under-age, as this was the "hook" for that
particular site. That's what really did her in for the producers.
--
--K
Undisputed 2004 Bragging Rights Champion
Bill Gates
>"Giggles" <laug...@you.com> wrote in
>news:45edc4bc$0$28071$4c36...@roadrunner.com:
>
>> I personally think the double standard is 80% weightism and 20%
>> racism. Either they left out the spread on the WWII memorial and the
>> touchy feely girls gone wild photos, or they don't know about those
>> yet.
>>
>>
>
>Leave it for someone to always play a race card when anything negative is
>said about a black person - or so it seems. Reuben Stoddard throws both of
>those lame arguments out.
>
>Frenchie was a paid slut and Antonella wasn't (paid - both are sluts).
>
>Is that enough of a difference?
Antonella has a pretty mouth.