End of the road for US 'Idol' hopeful Barba

NEW YORK, Mar 9 (Reuters) America voted and ended contestant Antonella Barba's hopes of becoming the next 'American idol'', after several racy photos of the New Jersey resident surfaced on the Internet.

Barba, 20, was among four contestants who were eliminated from the top-rated TV talent show. Viewers voted for their favorite singers and Barba did not make the cut. Twelve hopefuls remain.

As was the case last week, when Barba survived the cut in the wake of the photos' discovery, no mention was made of the pictures on the show. The photos featured a young woman on her back covered in rose petals, posing in her underwear, sitting on a toilet and sitting among a group of topless women on a beach with hands over their breasts.

Others showed a woman performing oral sex on a man. Though all are purported to be images of Barba, she has not commented on the matter in accordance with the show's rules.

Host Ryan Seacrest may have been referring to the flap when he said that Barba had ''probably grown up a lot on 'American Idol''' and she nodded in agreement. She said the memories from the show were ''great ones, but ...'' without finishing her thought.

Sharp-tongued judge Simon Cowell told Barba, who performed ''Put Your Records On'' on Tuesday, ''I feel for you, because you've taken a lot of stick in the media,'' adding that she had conducted herself well. ''I just wish you could sing better,'' he added yesterday.

Despite the publicity, Barba's ouster was not a huge shock, with bloggers citing her less-than-stellar vocal skills. The New York Times branded some of her performances ''lackluster.'' The popular Fox show, which regularly attracts 30 million to 35 million viewers, weathered a similar scandal in 2003 when contestant Frenchie Davis, who dazzled the judges with her vocals, was dismissed. It was revealed that Davis had posed topless on a porn site.

Entertainment media have reported that Barba has been swamped with offers since the photo flap, including one to be a spokeswoman for an X-rated DVD company.

Reuters SY DB0922