Photos thanks to The National Ledger, Tabloid Rabies, and Antonella Barba nude

Despite some powerhouse performances by Lakisha Jones, who belted out Dreamgirls like she was up for the Oscar, and Sabrina Sloan, who delivered the kind of bluesy sass that brings to mind Christina at her best; the only American Idol girl anyone’s been able to talk about all week is Antonella Barba, who missed so many notes performing Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” we can only take her word that’s what she was trying to sing.

Was it really that bad? Yes, but that has nothing to do with why she’s in the spotlight. A series of compromising photos of her have anonymously been released on the web; showing her and her female friends frolicking strategically topless on the beach; a see through New Year’s Eve pic; and another involving a North Carolina jersey that would make anyone a Tar Heels fan.

Since American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe telling Entertainment Weekly that he was first hearing about these photos from them, the American Idolcamp hasn’t made any public statements regarding the Antonella Barba naked pictures and has put an, um… gag order stopping Antonella from talking to the press. While there’s been some speculation that she could get kicked off the show, in a repeat of what happened to Frenchie Davis in Season 2, I don’t think that’s likely to happen for a few reasons.

First of all, unlike Frenchie, Antonella Barba doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning, so the only risk in letting her stay around for a couple of more weeks is the ratings might get driven up, which I think the FOX network can live with. And letting her stay isn’t really hypocritical because Frenchie posed for an internet website in lingerie pretending to be an underage girl, fully cognizant of what those pictures were being used for. In Antonella’s case her pictures were just her fooling around with her friends and never intended for public consumption; most likely it’s her ex-boyfriend or best friend and former American Idol contestant Amanda Coluccio behind the leaking.

Additionally, the only truly explicit pictures, showing Antonella using her mouth for something other than singing scales, have already been proven to be of another woman, though even BF Amanda admitted the resemblance was uncanny.

It might still be a few days before we know the full fallout of the Antonella Barba pictures, but in the meantime, lest you mistake this for a serious news story, here are some the photos in question. By the way, the last two were taken "in" a World War II Memorial in Washington D.C.