Antonella Barba   

Rising to fame with her appearance on season six of American Idol, contestant Antonella Barba did not even crack the top twelve. She was, nonetheless, a show sensation. The controversy that surrounded her during the show’s airing helped contribute to her cult status and her fifteen minute of fame.

Antonella Lynette Barba was born June 1, 1986 in California. Her parents are Vincenzo Barba and Valeria Barba, and she was subsequently raised in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Graduating from Red Bank Catholic High School, Barba pursued her secondary education at The Catholic University of America once her American Idol run was over. She is obtaining her degree in architecture.

The world was first introduced to Barba in January of 2007 when she auditioned in New York for season six of American Idol. Judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell were impressed not only by Barba’s vocal talents but also her sexy and commercial look. She arrived with her friend Amanda Collucio and both eventually left with golden tickets.

While Collucio failed to make the top forty, Barba sailed through to the top twenty-four. Her first official performance was “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith. The judges were unimpressed, but Barba was eventually deemed safe. She took another risk the following week by taking on the powerhouse hit “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion. Again, she was slammed by the judges, but still she was voted safe. Now in the top sixteen, Barba sang the popular hit “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae. After three weeks of mediocre performances, she was booted off the show without even making the top twelve.

The twelve contestants moving on were Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Blake Lewis, Brandon Rogers, Jordin Sparks, LaKisha Jones, Chris Richardson, Chris Sligh, Melinda Doolittle, Stephanie Edwards, Phil Stacey, and of course, Sanjaya Malakar.

So with only three weeks on the show, how did Barba become such a topic of conversation? Explicit photos surfaced during her weeks on the show that featured Barba in a series of compromising positions such as sporting a wet tee-shirt in the Washington DC National World War II Memorial fountain. Barba lashed back and made statements expressing that those photos were personal and never intended for public consumption.

Friends came to her aid and helped her publicly deny that some of the more sexually explicit pictures were not actually of her.

These photos floated around the internet and even made news shows such as The O Reilly Factor with Bill O Reilly. Barba, once viewed as just another sexpot teen, was suddenly spurring national news stations to question whether she was simply “too sexy.”

Since the heat from her public embarrassment cooled, Barba has been considering possible avenues after her brush with fame. She has stated that she is open to modeling opportunities or acting jobs.

Despite few projects on her plate, she currently runs with an A-list crowd, which includes Demi Moore and Bruce Willis’ daughter, Rumer Willis.