In the news

'Idol' contestant booted

Frenchie Davis, the full-figured, brassy-voiced American Idol semifinalist from Washington, was tossed out of Fox's talent competition after she acknowledged she worked for an adult Web site four years ago.

Fox says Davis, 23, will be replaced on a show airing Feb. 25. But co-producer 19 Entertainment, which signs Idol winners to recording contracts, says it will "endeavor to do all in its power to help Frenchie further her music career," USA Today reports.

Meanwhile, "aghast" Frenchie fans have begun lobbying for her reinstatement in angry postings on the show's message boards and by gathering signatures on an online petition at www.petitiononline.com/frenchie/petition.html.

Fox had no problems with disclosures that Joe Millionaire hunk Evan Marriott had a brief career as an underwear model or with the fact that Millionaire finalist Sarah Kozer once starred in fetish flicks. So why give Davis the boot?

A Fox representative said that the network will "not comment any further about the situation."

Yet more Jacko

A private video in which British journalist Martin Bashir allegedly praises Michael Jackson's parenting skills is scheduled to air Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Michael Jackson Take 2: The Interview They Wouldn't Show You will also include comments from Deborah Rowe, the pop star's ex-wife and mother of his first two children, Fox says.

The two-hour Take 2 will feature extended footage, shot by Jackson's own cameraman, of portions of the Bashir-Jackson interviews that didn't make ABC's controversial Bashir documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, on Feb. 6.

Savage gets MSNBC show

Right-wing radio host Michael Savage will join conservative-starved MSNBC next month to host a weekly talk show, the cable news network said Wednesday, though no start date was announced.

The Savage Nation will air live at 5 p.m. Saturdays out of San Francisco, home base for the commentator's weekday Savage Nation. It's syndicated to more than 300 radio stations. (It airs locally on WWBA-AM 1040.)

MSNBC, a distant third in the cable news wars, announced last week that ex-Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a fiery independent, would host a weekday prime-time show.

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