Frenchie Davis is in the spotlight once again, thanks to a series of racy Internet photos. But this time around, they're not of her.

The onetime American Idol contestant, who was kicked off the second season for posing on an adult-content Website at the age of 19, has spoken out on the show's decision not to penalize current contestant Antonella Barba for a similar infraction.

"I couldn't help but notice the difference between the manner in which she was dealt with and how I was dealt with," Davis, 27, told the New York Post on Monday.

After pictures purportedly showing the 20-year-old Barba in various scenarios and poses—including topless, seated on a toilet and engaged in a sex act—surfaced on the Web, some wondered if the attractive New Jersey native was bound for the same fate as Davis.

Instead, the pictures earned Barba sympathy and support from the Idol powers that be, not to mention a lucrative offer from Girls Gone Wild. (More on that later.)

Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said there were no plans to take any disciplinary action against Barba and that the pictures would not impact her future in the competition, as least as far as the show was concerned.

"It won’t affect anything, Antonella is about her looks and her talent, and that’s the only thing that will affect her journey on American Idol," Lythgoe told Inside Edition last week.

Meanwhile, Barba's best friend, Amanda Coluccio, with whom she auditioned for the show, has said the more incriminating photos are not of Barba, but a look-alike.

"The really bad ones aren't her," Coluccio told New Jersey's Star-Ledger last month. "I've studied them. It's not her nose. She's never had [acrylic nail] tips in her life. She's the least slutty person I know."

Unfortunately for Davis, her topless photo shoot for the Website Daddy's Little Girls, billed as an online destination where "the girls have all grown up...and the boys have come to play," wasn't quite as easy to defend.

The full-figured vocalist, who maintains she was honest with Fox about the pictures from the start, was unceremoniously given her walking papers during the semifinal round in 2003.

"I was up front about those photographs, and I had taken them five years before I was on Idol," Davis told the Post. "It happened, and I was honest about it...and weeks later, they decided to kick me off the show."

Though Davis' ousting resulted in outcry from her fans and a flurry of online petitions demanding her reinstatement, Fox refused to budge.

With Barba now reaping the benefits of a seemingly kinder, gentler Idol, Davis is curious about exactly when the show's standards changed.

"I think it's fantastic if Idol has evolved, and I think it's fantastic she won't have to go through what I went through four years ago," Davis told the Post.

"But if the rules have changed, I believe there should be something to make up for the fact that I was humiliated needlessly."

To date, the network has declined to discuss its decision to eliminate Davis—and the current controversy doesn't seem to be inspiring a change of heart.

"Fox and the producers of American Idol have no desire to revisit history and sully the reputation of Ms. Davis," Fox said in a statement on Tuesday. "She was removed from the show over four years ago and has gone on to a successful performing career. We have never discussed the specifics of why Ms. Davis was eliminated, nor will we now."

Ever unable to resist a controversy, Rosie O'Donnell weighed in on the situation on Tuesday's View, suggesting Barba was granted preferential treatment because of the color of her skin and trim physique.

"I think it's racist. I really do. I think it's because she's black," O'Donnell said of Davis' elimination.

"It's weightist and wacist, too, you skwewy wabbit," she continued, apparently channeling Elmer Fudd.

O'Donnell's comments incited an angry response from Lythgoe, who accused her of making the inflammatory remarks in a blatant attempt to draw attention to herself, while denying that there was any credence to her claim. 

"Without wishing to add to the obvious self-promotion of Ms. O'Donnell, I feel as though I must refute her absurd and ridiculous claims that American Idol is racist and/or weightist," Lythgoe said in a statement Wednesday.

"Ms. O'Donnell has, once again, spoken without thought or knowledge. Viewers need only look at the show tonight to realize that American Idol constantly confirms to America that talent has nothing to do with weight or color."

(Looks like we can add Idol to the lengthy list of entities involved in feuds with O'Donnell; see also: Trump, Donald; Ripa, Kelly; and Asians.)

Meanwhile, civil-rights activist Najee Ali, the founder of Project Islamic H.O.P.E., staged a rally outside of Hollywood's Kodak Theater—where Idol is filmed—on Tuesday, protesting the "double standard that is plaguing the current season" and calling for Davis to be given another chance on the show.

"We object to having one rule for black contestants and a different rule for white contestants who exhibit the same behavior," Ali said. 

Davis said she was touched by the protesters' efforts.

"It's unbelievable that such movement is being made for me without me having to say a word," she said in a statement.

She told the Associated Press she would consider a public apology from Idol a "great start" but that she felt the show needed "to come to the table and see what we can do to make up" for how she was treated in comparison to Barba. 

Barba is currently one of 16 hopefuls remaining in the semifinals and will be performing along with the seven other female contestants on Wednesday, following the male contestants' performances on Tuesday. Thursday marks the last round of multiple eliminations before the finals.

If and when Barba is eventually voted off the show, another opportunity awaits her in a field in which she has already demonstrated her expertise.

Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis has extended a public invitation to the would-be Idol to join his franchise and host an upcoming video release for the company behind oeuvres such as Girls Gone Wild Doggy Style and Girls Gone Wild Spring Break Sex Riot.

"Antonella Barba is an unbelievably sexy girl who obviously knows how to have a good time," Francis said in a statement.

As an added initiative, Francis said he was prepared to offer Barba $250,000 for her hosting skills.

Maybe posing for those pictures wasn't such a bad idea after all.

(Originally published Mar. 6, 2007 at 9:55 p.m. PT.)