Is "Idol" Not a Singing Competition After All?

Each week after the results show, FOX has a conference call with the media featuring the eliminated contestant(s). It’s the first opportunity they have to comment on what’s been happening to them.

Occasionally, some interesting thoughts come out…

This week, Alaina Alexander said she was used to singing her own material. When someone asked her if she would have been allowed to sing original songs, she said that Nigel Lythgoe, the executive producer, told her she could sing “whatever she wanted.” Alaina said she was considering doing original material next week if she had survived…

Leslie Hunt had the boldest words to say about Antonella Barba, saying “There’s a certain hype that comes with her and that’s not really something I understand.” As for the pictures that have made Antonella a household name, Leslie said, “Get over it”…

But the most interesting words this week come from the always quotable Nigel Lythgoe who said--in response to questions about less talented singers staying around--that he never wanted “Idol” to be a singing competition. “This is called ‘American Idol.’ And we would like the next one to be an Idol. They need to be a great singer, but they also need a great personality if they’re going to succeed. This isn’t only just about having a great voice, it really isn’t.”
Hmmm…

There’s also some interesting quotes running around out there from Simon Cowell, and I’ll address those tomorrow…

The Latest on Antonella...

Remember Amanda, Antonella’s best friend who didn’t make it through to Hollywood? She’s sticking up for her friend in the midst of the racy pictures scandal...

It seems that the most X-rated photos (which I won’t describe) are in fact hoaxes and are not Antonella. Amanda says the other racy pictures are Antonella and that they were made for a calendar for an ex-boyfriend. Speculation is that the boyfriend may have released the pictures, though his friends deny it.

Votefortheworst.com is also sticking up for Antonella because it has already chosen her as the worst female singer. You can find their proof that the pictures are not her on the website.

Among the other people championing Antonella’s cause are Ryan Seacrest, Simon Cowell and—are you ready for this?—Hugh Hefner. Both Ryan and Simon say that it’s the person who released the pictures that they’re worried about and not Antonella. But after looking at the pictures, Hef conceded he might be interested in having Antonella pose for "Playboy." Not sure that really helped her cause…

The notoriety has definitely made Antonella a household name. Last week, she was #1 on the AOL search site—even ahead of Britney’s umbrella tirade.

You may recall that season two’s Frenchie Davis was kicked of the show when topless pictures of her surfaced online. However, those pictures were for an adult website.

We’ll see how “Idol” handles it tonight. My guess is that they’ll totally ignore it…

Problems for Antonella?

As if you needed another reason to be careful about what you put on MySpace, here’s another one my sources brought to my attention this morning…

Rather risqué and embarrassing photos are making the rounds on the Internet of Antonella Barba. Several of them show her topless—though you don’t see anything because of the presence of other topless girls. Others show her carousing at parties (Remember, she’s only 20.). One even features her sitting on the toilet, though everything is covered.

I haven’t heard officially that they’re MySpace or Facebook pictures, but that’s what they look like to me.

So next time you get the urge to have your picture taken while on the toilet, remember that someday you could be on the most popular show on television and that moment could come back to haunt you.

No response yet from FOX or “Idol” producers about the pictures. I don’t really expect there to be any…