Fox mum on latest "American Idol" scandal

American Idol has filled its scandal quota of the year with recent news about semi-finalist Antonella Barba. She's the New Jersey brunette who's an Internet sensation now that scantily-clad photos of her are online. There are some downright pornographic pictures floating about as well, but those may or may not be of the Idol hopeful. In some of the photos, Barba's in a wet white t-shirt, in a cheerleading uniform, and naked except for strategically placed rose petals. In others, she's topless with friends and drinking alcohol.

Barba has not commented on the racy shots but her best friend, Amanda Coluccio, told the New Jersey Star-Ledger that the almost nudie shots were for a calendar for Barba's longtime boyfriend. Coluccio, an ousted Idol contestant herself, also told the paper that she knows Coluccio is not the woman in the sexually explicit images because that person has fake fingernails, "She's never had tips in her life. She's the least slutty person I know."

Fox has not commented on the scandal. Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe told Entertainment Weekly, "It's sad, isn't it, that your best friends are the ones that come forward with information that will go to the Smoking Gun or put your photographs on the web?"

Barba is a 20-year-old undergrad at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and said most of her singing has been done in choirs: "I've only ever really sung in choirs and stuff before. I did a lot of choirs in high school but since I've been in college, I started like two years ago, I didn't really have a whole lot of time for music and I'm really glad to get back into it right now 'cause I really missed it a lot."

She sang "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" on last week's Idol, and despite the latest hubbub, will perform on Wednesday night.

Here's Barba's performance from last week: "... and I don't want to miss a thingggggg."
Submit the above story to:

Del.icio.us   Digg   reddit   StumbleUpon   Facebook