Idol's Carly Smithson Hooks Up With Evanescence

Idol alum Carly Smithson has just teamed up with Evanescence! She was on Idol season 7, and is joining three of the four original group members.

Founding guitarist Ben Moody told the Los Angeles Times blog Idol Tracker “We began looking for our soulmate, which we were scared was going to take a long, long time.”

But according to the LA Times they found Smithson, who called the offer “pretty awesome.”

Carly says, “I’m excited to be able to completely jump out of the box. The Idol thing, you know, was very PG, it was for a family audience … I’ve never been more happy than being in this band.”

"I kept getting told that 'you don't have the rock voice, you can't do rock music.’ But it's everything I am. It's everything I listen to. I'm not the regular girl next door."

Carly will take over for Amy Lee with the band, which is funny because she sort of resembles her! The group formally debuts on Monday, when the band's first single will be available for free download on wearethefallen.com. The band won't release an album right away, but plans to tour nationally for a year and a half and will release songs, two at a time, online.