Antonella Barba

During the sixth season of the popular show, American Idol, a young girl from Point Pleasant, New Jersey auditioned for the show. She made it till the final twenty four contestants of that season. She would probably go down in history as a okay artiste, if her name wasn't mired in controversy soon after.

Antonella Barba was born on February 8, 1987 to Vicenzo and Valerie Barba. She attends The Catholic University of America and is a architecture student.

Antonella Barba auditioned for the show along with best friend, Amanda Coluccio. Some of the songs that she performed during her American Idol Stint were 'I Don't Want to Miss A Thing', 'Because You Loved Me' and 'Put Your Record On'. She gained her own share of popularity, with her fans dubbing themselves as 'Fantonellas'. She was eliminated on March 8, 2007.

After her stint with 'American Idol', obscene photographs of her performing sexual acts soon flooded the internet. Soon after, they made newspaper headlines and gave Amanda Coluccio infamy instead of fame. She has said that most of the photographs were fake, and some of them were the photos of her personal life and were exploited without her consent. One such photo was her posing in a 'wet t shirt' competition in the foundation of the National World War II Memorial in Washington DC. Her friends as well as herself has said that the sexually explicit photos were fakes. The photos by themselves caused a flurry as soon as released. Internet traffic started bulging up and some websites having the photographs crashed. In a matter of mere hours, Antonella had become one of the 'most searched keyword' on major websites.

The photos gained such popularity that Hugh Hefner founder of the 'Playboy' magazine had commented over the big hullabaloo committed over some photos which were seemingly harmless photos of girls letting their hair down a bit. People immediately raced their memories back to Frenchie Davis, who was the victim of another controversial decision. She was eliminated from the show when it was discovered that she had worked for the Adult Film Industry.

After Antonella Barba got voted off the 'American Idol', she was said to have been approached by various companies of the Adult Entertainment Industry, most notably 'Playboy' and 'Girls Gone Wild' to pose for their websites. However, Antonella has repeatedly and reportedly said that she would never pose for such magazines now or in the future, because that is not the way she wishes to portray herself to the general public.

The controversial pictures may have got Antonella more (unwanted) popularity than even winning the American Idol would have. Antonella's case reminds everyone once more that a celebrity or even a wannabe celebrity is public property and their past, present or even future can and will be used to make money by hook or by crook.

The strange thing is that Antonella today has a lot of support in the same media which first splashed those photos, which finally saw the light of print in February, 2007 - The internet. Various bloggers have rallied behind her, saying that the photographs were just 'friends hanging around' and not sexual in nature or taste.

Initially, and still today, there have been mixed reactions to the photos. While some say that its Antonella herself who has leaked these photographs, some are still scratching their heads trying to look at the pornographic angle in the photographs. Others are still baying for the blood of the person who leaked these photographs.

To some, the photographs are to be taken as seriously as the WWE's Undertaker having his arm in a cast for a month. Sometimes he can beat up his opponent to unconsciousness with it, while in other instances, touch it and he's a six month old baby.