Idol‘s Raquel Houghton Is No Amateur

After last season’s deluge of industry vets (Former MCA recording artist Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado from The One, Cheyenne‘s ex Jason Castro), we shouldn’t be shocked that some of this year’s audition winners previously had recording contracts (Joanna Pacitti) and appeared on other reality shows (Rock The Cradle’s Lara Johnston). But there are plants…and then there is Raquel Houghton. Houghton not only hit red carpets several years ago as Dane Cook‘s girlfriend, but spent some time as the singer for the Valli Girls—an all-girl bubblegum rock group that appeared on the 2005 Kid’s Choice Awards soundtrack and in a ridiculous Cosmo girl! clip, “Born To Lead,” seen above.

Unsurprisingly, Houghton is a little less than forthcoming about her past. In an interview with the LA Times, taken after her July ’08 audition, she fails to mention The Valli Girls at all, instead describing a childhood playing violin.

LA Times: What’s your musical background, did you play in bands, sing in bands?

Houghton: Yeah, I played the violin—not amazingly well, but did play for a long time, and I’ve been singing forever. Disney was like the first thing I was, like, obsessed with.

Yup, she’s just been singing Disney in the shower since she was a kid, working as a waitress until Simon and the gang gave her a second chance at stardom. Will America decide that Houghton was born to lead after all?