Frenchie Davis: 'Idol' 'Scared the Hell Out of Me'

NBC

For The Voice’s Frenchie Davis, being the subject of tabloid fodder was a good thing.

“Ending up on the cover of the National Enquirer for being fat is the best thing that could have ever happened to me because it made me have an epiphany that being afraid of putting myself out there isn’t protecting me from the scrutiny so I might as well go balls to the wall for my dream because they’re going to come for me anyway,” the former American Idol contestant said during a conference call with reporters Tuesday.

The singer, who was 23 when she was disqualified from Fox’s American Idol after topless photos taken before her turn on the reality series surfaced, returned to primetime on NBC’s new competition last week when the show’s Christina Aguilera selected the singer as part of her team of eight singers.

“There was a part of my life when I had allowed what happened with Idol to scare the hell out of me and there was a part of me that was afraid to really take a chance,” said Davis, who in the past nine years has performed in Rent on Broadway. “Broadway was safe for me.”

But for the singer who turns 32 on Saturday, The Voice is far from being her last shot at making it.

“I don’t see anything as a last shot -- I’m sure that some people saw Idol as my last shot and clearly it was not,” she said, noting that Aguilera has been “kind of a mamma bear” when it comes to serving as her coach. “What this show is about for me is not about necessarily winning. When I left Idol, most people remembered me because of the scandal. If I couldn’t sing, then maybe I could live with that.

“What this show represents for me is a chance to reintroduce my talent to the world because they didn’t get to see it in the two minutes of airtime I was on Idol,” she said. “It’s a chance to reintroduce the full extent of my talent to the world and this time, win or lose, I’ll walk away being remembered for my talent and nothing else.”

The Voice airs Tuesdays on NBC.