Antonella Barba in "The Cone of Silence"

Nary a mention of the Antonella Barba contoversy during "Boys Night" on American Idol


By Charlie McCollum
Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

You have to love the intersection of technology and popular culture, a very cluttered bit of roadway that has proven rather dangerous for those who aren’t paying attention to the traffic around them.

barba 1Take the case of Antonella Barba, who made the final 24 (now the final 20) on “American Idol.'’ Last week, photos of the 20-year-old student at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. popped up on the Web. Some looked like they were taken on a girls’ drunken night out, described rather neatly by Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes as “Girls Gone Wild'’ Lite. (I’m avoiding the obvious links here. If you want to see them, just do your Google thing on Barba and they will most definitely pop up.)

The other shots, though, are a somewhat different matter: Hardcore photos of oral sex. The problem is that while they’re supposed to be of Barba, her friends say they are not. (Barba herself can’t speak since she’s under the usual “Idol'’ cone of silence.)

What’s interesting is how many folks online and in emails to me are suggesting that the “Idol'’ producers are guilty of a double standard in the dealing with the Barba photos. They point out that while Frenchie Davis, a finalist in 2003, was dumped after it was determined she posed nude for a porn site (nothing hardcore), it appears Barba will still be around Wednesday night when the women sing in round 2. Some have gone as far as to suggest it’s a matter of race, while others wonder if body shape (Davis was a full-bodied woman) has something to do with it.

There is a difference, though. The Barba photos (the ones that are definitely of her) were private ones, not from a photo shoot for a porn site. Barba may be guilty of bad judgment or outright stupidity but that doesn’t carry quite the same weight as Davis taking money to pose and then not telling the “Idol'’ producers about it.

As for the hardcore ones … well, there’s enough evidence that maybe they aren’t of her that it may be hard for the “Idol'’ kingpins to give her the ol’ heave-ho.

And let’s be honest, chances are good this is all going to blow over fairly quickly. Of all the remaining female contestants, Barba may be the worst as witness her ear-numbing rendition of “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.'’ If there’s any justice — and, admittedly, sometimes there isn’t on “Idol'’ — she’ll be gone Thursday night and those photos will drift off into Web obscurity. More...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick Bio of Antonella Barba

Most Recent Role: Moving On on American Idol
Gender: Female
Birthplace: New Jersey, USA
Birthday: 1-1-1987
Birth Name: Antonella Barba

Antonella auditioned in New York City, New York with her best friend Amanda Coluccio. They both come from Point Pleasant, NJ. They both made it to Hollywood week, but only Antonella made it to the top 24.

Ugg - An Antonella Barba Fan Site

It had to happen - a fan forum and blog for Antonella Barba lovers. I wonder what they will chat about after an early demise from American Idol.

Check it here More...



MTV Wades in....

'Idol' Hopeful Antonella Barba's Pal Says X-Rated Pics Are Fake
Racy photos have made semifinalist one of the most searched people online.

By Gil Kaufman

Antonella Barba's warbly rendition of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" last week might eventually get the "American Idol" semifinalist booted off the show. But for now, anyway, the X-rated pictures of her buzzing around the Internet won't.

"Idol" has had its fair share of scandals in the past, but a friend of Barba's jumped to her defense this week after widely distributed, allegedly doctored photos of the New Jersey native surfaced that appeared to show her performing oral sex on an anonymous man. The pictures were accompanied by a flood of other salacious — though not as graphic — shots of Barba in her underwear, sitting on a toilet, covering her breasts alongside a half-dozen other friends on the beach and posing in various sexy outfits.

The anonymously posted shots helped Barba become one of the most searched people on the Internet over the past week, but her best friend, unsuccessful "Idol" aspirant Amanda Coluccio of Holmdel, New Jersey, said Monday that the most outrageous ones are fakes. Coluccio told Newark, New Jersey's Star-Ledger that the less graphic photos are of Barba, but that her friend is not the person depicted in the X-rated shots.

"The really bad ones aren't her. I've studied them," Coluccio told the paper. "It's not her nose. She's never had [acrylic nail] tips [like the woman in the photo] in her life. She's the least slutty person I know."

Though citizens in Barba's small hometown of Point Pleasant on the Jersey shore continued to support the singer and post signs wishing her good luck, they were among those who copped to the reality that in the digital age, these kinds of photos are bound to surface.

"When the toilet picture came out, we had already said she's one of the worst [singers] on this year's edition ... and then this all blew up," said Dave Della Terza, webmaster of the three-year-old site VotefortheWorst.com, which encourages fans to vote for the show's worst contestants.

Though his site has been all over the scandal and has made its name skewering the show, Della Terza said he feels bad for Barba. "When you take pictures of yourself on the toilet or topless with friends, it's your own fault for putting them up there," he said. "But when someone fakes pictures of you, that's just terrible. I feel really bad for her. It's fun to poke fun at them, but this could ruin her life."

Rather selfishly, Della Terza — who posted photos Monday on his site that appear to confirm that the woman in the graphic pictures is not Barba based on their different facial features — hopes the singer doesn't get kicked off because the site has already adopted her as this year's unofficial mascot for the worst contestants. An "American Idol" spokesperson wouldn't comment for this story, and MTV News was unable to reach Barba for comment because contestants are not allowed to speak to the press during the early run of the show.

Barba, 20, who was studying architecture at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., before making it to the "Idol" Hollywood rounds, is thought to be living on borrowed time on the show. In her first semifinals performance last week, her uneven take on the Aerosmith ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was dissed by the judges and landed her at the top of the female list on Della Terza's site.

But she may not need "Idol" anyway. At one point last week, Barba was the top search item on the Technorati.com blog-tracker site, beating out Britney Spears (#2), "Idol" (#5) and even Anna Nicole Smith (#14), and as of Tuesday, she was #2 just behind the Oscars and ahead of MySpace (#3) and Al Gore (#5).

And, according to gossip site TMZ.com, last week not even Britney's umbrella-bashing paparazzi incident and third trip to rehab could surpass the interest in Barba, who was #1 on the AOL search site.

Barba isn't the first "Idol" contestant to be embroiled in a sex scandal. Season-two semifinalist Frenchie Davis was booted off the show when topless pictures she'd shot for an adult Web site surfaced online.

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. More...

Antonella Barba - A Photo Essay

The American Idol?

Antonella Barba is experiencing her 15 minutes of fame and she should enjoy it now because she won't be remembered later for her singing ability or lack thereof.

This weeks events have been fodder for the media who can't get enough of her exihibitionist photos. By now most people are aware that the "Oral Sex" photos are not of Antonella but you can be sure that people are scouring the net looking for "Real" photos of her in a sex act.

Will the person or persons leaking all the photos upload a few more in time for tonight's show? We will have to wait and see.

Antonella's Photo Journey so far.





















And the Fake Antonella Barba



Antonella Barba