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Long-time music fans may have done a double take when they saw Joanna Pacitti auditioning for American Idol this week.

While the singer received a ticket to Hollywood, it came with a cloud of controversy.

After all, this is the same Joanna Pacitti that has enjoyed a decade-long career – or attempt at a career, at least – in the music industry.

Here’s a timeline of her pre-Idol life:
1996: Pacitti wins the role of Annie and performs on a national tour of the musical. But she’s fired before the Broadway opening and her mother sues for millions. The sides reach an undisclosed settlement.

1997: The youngster appears on the Rosie O’Donnell Show and Good Morning America, among other programs, to discuss her firing (sample quote: “I just have to remember that…I’m the real Annie…and the sun will come out tomorrow”). Pacitti is offered sitcoms and a book deal.

Click on the photos above to get a look at Pacitti over the years.

2001: She signs with A&M Records, releasing the single “Watch Me Shine” on 2001’s Legally Blonde soundtrack.

2003: Pacitti stars on MTV True Life: First Year, which chronicles her label’s grooming of its potential star.

2006: She releases an album, This Crazy Life. It hits #31 on the Heatseekers chart. A song (“Out From Under,” later covered by Britney Spears) from the CD appears on the Bratz soundtrack, but she’s dropped in late 2007.

You tell us: Does Joanna Pacitti have too much experience to try out for American Idol?