Interview: AMERICAN IDOL & THE VOICE Alum FRENCHIE DAVIS At The Copa 1/16-17

Singer/Actress Frenchie Davis brings her brash wit and iconic vocal style to The Copa in Palm Springs for two intimate performances, January 16 and 17 at 8:00 pm. Davis auditioned for the second season of the groundbreaking FOX show "American Idol" and her tremendous success on the show launched a career that has taken her to Broadway (Rent, Dreamgirls and eventually becoming a Grammy-nominated artist for the revival of Ain't Misbehavin') and, perhaps, her highest profile gig as one of the top four finalists in the first season of The Voice. Her cover of "When Love Takes Over" landed at #3 on the iTunes Dance Chart. I had the chance to chat with French as she was preparing for her Palm Springs engagement. Here are a few excerpts from the conversation:

DG: There have been so many superlatives about you, trying to describe you, in the press and by critics and fans over the years - how do you describe yourself?

FD: I'm just a girl who loves to sing. And loves to learn. And loves to laugh. That's how I would describe myself.

DG: Where are you from and how did your life lead you into a career in professional theatre and music?

FD: I grew up in Los Angeles, California - the Inglewood area - and I always loved music - I always loved musical theatre - my favorite movies when I was growing up were musicals. Singing was always a hobby of mine. I don't think I realized that I could possibly do it for a living until I got to college. My freshman year of college I auditioned for the school play - which was "Ain't Misbehavin' - and I ended up getting cast in the Nell Carter role, and that was really my first time being in, you know, a professional-esque kind of stage production, and I fell in love with it. I ended up changing my major from English to theatre and then, you know, I ended up auditioning for my first job a few years later and being cast in a production of Little Shop Of Horrors, and then Jesus Christ Superstar, with a theatre company in Germany - and then three months after I got back from Germany I auditioned for American Idol. And three months after American Idol I got cast in Rent on Broadway. And now it's been fourteen years and this is what I do for a living.

DG: Your background is obviously musical theatre, but people probably know you more for you music career - do you prefer one over the other?

FD: Umm, well, there's reality TV singing competitions and there's Broadway. And I don't think it's fair to all the Broadway performers, who do what they do, to try to compare the two. I, personally, am prouder of my time spent doing theatre. That's what I love to do. The thing about the pop world is, you know, there are a lot of successful pop performers who are not successful because they are great singers, and what I love about Broadway is it's one of the areas of the arts where it's still kind of pure - you still have to know how to sing. You still have to know how to act. You have to be able to learn choreography. There are no shortcuts on Broadway. There's no easy way to do it. And that's one of the things I love about it. It continues to challenge me as a performer in a way that other art forms don't always do.

DG: With all of the current revivals on Broadway, and no end in sight, is there a role you'd like revived for you?

FD: I don't want to say. I don't like to jinx things and, you know, being mindful of the energy out in the universe - there are a few roles I would like to revive and would love the opportunity to create a new role. But, I don't want to jinx it. I have a couple of auditions coming up - I don't want to jinx it. (She laughs)

DG: You are known for your success on two major reality series - which do you think had the biggest impact on your life and career?

FD: I think both had a large impact on my life, in a lot of ways. I think that IDOL had a great impact on my life, not always positive, if we're being honest. Umm, it took about, what, ten, maybe even twelve years to get to a place when I spoke to the media you all wanted to talk about my singing and my performing on Broadway - because for about ten or twelve years prior every time I would speak to the media they wanted to talk about the controversy surrounding my leaving IDOL. The first sentence was always "Frenchie Davis, who was famously ousted from American Idol" - so, while I think it's perfectly fine that people remember me from the show I wish that I could say that they only remembered me because of what a great singer I was. I really, sincerely, feel that IDOL owes me an apology for that - and I hope that they will be classy like Miss America was with Vanessa Williams - because it took me a lot of work to, you know, to get my public image to a place where it was about my gift and my talent, and not about the controversy. I think there are a lot of people who don't have any talent at all and they've become famous for controversy in reality TV, and so I get it. But I think that, in a lot of ways, the way IDOL went about handling my dismissal from the show - I think it was done in a way that diminished, in some ways, all that I am as an entire human being and as an artist. So it was very impactful. Was it positively impactful? Not all the time. And, that's honest.

DG: What can audiences expect from your show at The Copa?

FD: They can expect to have a good time. They can expect to laugh a little - hopefully a lot. it's going to be - I always joke and I name these different pieces I perform - and I follow them with a comma and then "the musical" - I always think comma, "the musical" makes everything hilarious. Like, there's a tribute to Brittney Spears that I do in the show and I call it "It's Brittney Bitch, the musical" - and I do hip hop covers and I call them "Hip Hop, the musical". What my show has allowed me to do is to combine and merge my love for pop and hip hop and rock'n roll and all these different genres of music and, sort of, mix them in a big old pot together and present them as if they were musical theatre pieces. And it's been a really great time doing it and audiences have responded to it so amazingly. The last time I did the set in Palm Springs Carol Channing was in the audience - I mean, that was pretty freakin' awesome. I did it at The Apollo Theatre last summer and it was completely sold out. And, I'm going to be doing it at The Kennedy Center for Women's Month, in March - so I call it a pop cabaret - slash "Pop And Hip Hop, the musical" - I've had a great time doing it, because I'm doing what I love to do - which is laughing and making other people laugh and singing!!

DG: How do you know when a song speaks to you and you really want to sing it?

FD: There are a number of things. It depends. Sometimes it's the lyrics. Actually, a lot of times it's the lyrics. A lot of times, it's the way that I feel when I hear the song for the first time. I remember hearing that rap song "Trap Queen" by Fetty Wap for the first time - and on surface it's just any other rap song. But when I listened to the lyrics I thought, wow, when you strip away all of the thug-ness from it this guy is really just talking about love - he's just a man who wants love - and, I'm all about love and singing about love, and sometimes it presents itself in a number of different ways. A lot of times it's the lyrics, a lot of times it's the hidden stories in the songs - or I might hear it and think that song is great for my voice, I could sing the hell out of that. Sometimes that's the decision maker.

DG: With all of your accomplishments, so far, what is your proudest?

FD: That's hard to answer. I think my proudest "life moment" so far has been, you know, going back and finishing my Bachelor's degree. I just entered the final year of my master's degree and of my Ph.d and I'm really proud of that. I feel really proud of everything I've been able to do as a performer on this journey because I think that each and every individual experience contributed into my evolving into the artist and the woman that I am now. It's kind of hard to pick one particular instance.

DG: Congratulations on your Masters.

FD: Thank you.

DG: One final question. What advice do you give to aspiring young singers, artists, actors, performers?

FD: That if they don't - they have to learn and accept very early in their careers that they will be the ones believing in themselves more than anyone else ever will. You will hear "no" a lot. But bear in mind that you only have to hear one "yes" and that can change your life. There's a special kind of perseverance and knowledge of self that I think is required to survive this business - cause I realized a couple of days ago, man, it's been fourteen years since American Idol. I've been a professional singer for fifteen years - it's crazy. And, there's just a special kind of knowledge of who you are as a person and artist to survive this business.

Frenchie Davis appears at The Copa in Palm Springs for two intimate performances, January 16 and 17 at 8:00 pm. For tickets or further information, visit www.copapalmsprings.com.

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