Disqualified American Idol semifinalist Frenchie Davis will reportedly resurface on television this spring on The Voice, NBC's new Idol-like singing competition.
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Davis auditioned for The Voice during a taping last Thursday, and while "musician coaches" Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton passed on the singer's rendition of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl," Christina Aguilera took a liking to the singer and selected Davis for her team, Entertainment Weekly reported.
Hosted by Carson Daly, The Voice will premiere Tuesday, April 26 and begin with an initial "blind auditions" phase in which the coaches will select singers for their own teams based solely on the sound of the singers' voices, as they will not be able to see them.
"It's an amazing story that Christina picked her despite not having a clue who she was," a source told Entertainment Weekly.
Davis was disqualified from Idol's second season in 2003 over nude pictures in which she simulated solitary sexual activity for a kiddie-porn website. Despite a petition to reinstate Davis into the competition, Fox stood by its decision to disqualify Davis, who posed for the photos when she was 18.
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"Frenchie is an interesting personality who was left high and dry by Idol," the EW source said.
Several years after Davis' disqualification, American Idol and Fox allowed sixth-season semifinalist Antonella Barba -- who had provocative photos surface online during her Idol run -- and seventh-season finalist David Hernandez -- who was revealed to be former male stripper -- to remain in their respective competitions until they were eliminated by home viewer votes.
While her post-Idol career has included a four-year run on Rent on Broadway, Davis has remained frustrated about how she was handled compared to subsequent contestants.
"I guess I had to be thrown to the wolves to afford these other contestants the luxury of being judged on their talent," Davis told The Associated Press in 2008. "I guess that's what needed to happen."
After the "blind auditions" phase ends, The Voice's four coaches will train and mentor their singers for the "battle" rounds phase in which the coaches will have two of their own team members face off vocally and then decide which singer will advance.
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In the third phase, the remaining singers on each team will compete against each other during live performance shows, and home viewers and the four coaches will jointly decide which contestants will advance and be eliminated on each team.
Once only four singers -- one from each team -- remain, they'll compete in the finale for the chance to be crowned "The Voice," winning the singer $100,000 and a recording contract with Universal Music Group.
While The Voice isn't targeting former contestants from American Idol or other reality singing competitions, the show also has no intention of rejecting such auditioneers, according to Entertainment Weekly.
"The intent here is not to find unknown stars from little towns. It's about finding the best voice," its source said.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski