Biography
In the opening weeks of 2007, Antonella Barba drew more media scrutiny than any other participant during the sixth season of American Idol. Coverage centered not on her straightforward, agreeable singing voice but on suggestive photographs taken before she joined the competition. Born in Point Pleasant, NJ, she first performed in sixth grade at a school talent show and never pursued vocal lessons. After finishing high school she enrolled at the Catholic University of America to study architecture and was still a student there when she auditioned at age twenty. Her involvement began quietly as she accompanied her friend Amanda Coluccio to the opening tryouts in New York. Antonella earned stronger feedback than Amanda, yet both advanced to Hollywood. There the Jersey duo aligned with naïve blonde Baylie Brown—a Carrie Underwood wannabe whom Simon Cowell labeled very commercial, prompting the reply “Is that a good thing?”—and survived the initial elimination round while their Southern partner did not. The alliance soon fractured when Amanda was eliminated next, leaving Antonella to reach the final twelve female contestants.
Once semifinals commenced in February, previously unseen images of Barba began circulating online and quickly overshadowed the rest of the program’s coverage. Early snapshots raised eyebrows through scenes of drinking, a group of young women topless on a beach, and Antonella seated on a toilet. More provocative shots followed: images of her reclining amid rose petals in the style of Mena Suvari in American Beauty, suggestive poses in a basketball jersey, and, most inflammatory, footage of her in a wet T-shirt at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Within days Barba became a dominant topic across cable news, print outlets, and the web. During a late-February stretch when Anna Nicole Smith’s death and Britney Spears’ head-shaving incident competed for tabloid space, Antonella topped internet search rankings, eclipsing both figures.
Observers wondered whether the photographs would prompt her removal, recalling Frenchie Davis’s dismissal in the second season after she had posed topless for a professional online site. Producers allowed Barba to remain because the pictures were never intended for public distribution. The decision drew accusations of hypocrisy from viewers who organized a pro-Frenchie rally during the third week of semifinals. The resulting controversy only heightened interest in both the series and Antonella. By that point the anti-Idol site Vote for the Worst had transferred its endorsement from Sundance Head to Barba, sustaining her through the semifinals despite lukewarm responses to her renditions of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.”
Once semifinals commenced in February, previously unseen images of Barba began circulating online and quickly overshadowed the rest of the program’s coverage. Early snapshots raised eyebrows through scenes of drinking, a group of young women topless on a beach, and Antonella seated on a toilet. More provocative shots followed: images of her reclining amid rose petals in the style of Mena Suvari in American Beauty, suggestive poses in a basketball jersey, and, most inflammatory, footage of her in a wet T-shirt at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Within days Barba became a dominant topic across cable news, print outlets, and the web. During a late-February stretch when Anna Nicole Smith’s death and Britney Spears’ head-shaving incident competed for tabloid space, Antonella topped internet search rankings, eclipsing both figures.
Observers wondered whether the photographs would prompt her removal, recalling Frenchie Davis’s dismissal in the second season after she had posed topless for a professional online site. Producers allowed Barba to remain because the pictures were never intended for public distribution. The decision drew accusations of hypocrisy from viewers who organized a pro-Frenchie rally during the third week of semifinals. The resulting controversy only heightened interest in both the series and Antonella. By that point the anti-Idol site Vote for the Worst had transferred its endorsement from Sundance Head to Barba, sustaining her through the semifinals despite lukewarm responses to her renditions of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.”
Albums