The Monitor's American Idol Chat

By Brandon Garcia, Idol Chat host

America decided to spare the worst contenders of the week and instead went for those occupying the middle-talent level.

A.J. Tabaldo sang his exit song even better than he sang it Wednesday night, almost as a screw-you to the survivors, several of whom are clearly not as talented. Still, he was a little too effeminate for some tastes, but then again he’s not even in Sanjaya’s league as far as that goes. Chance for Post-Idol Stardom: Fair

Alaina Alexander kind of won me over with her struggle to be better. Still, it’s a struggle she lost by a landslide. Seeing her finally give up by not even attempting to sing one last time was sad. Sort of sad. On with the show. Chance for Post-Idol Stardom: Zero for a singing career. Maybe modeling or acting as an extra.

Nick Pedro showed some promise with his raspy, smooth voice, but never could muster any stage presence. I thought there was room for him to grow, but obviously not this year. Chance for Post-Idol Stardom: Very, very slim. Hey, he still got to be on TV. Better than nothing.

It pains me to say farewell to Leslie Hunt so early. She was actually my favorite so far. Her husky voice and quirky persona really made her special, but like thousands and thousands of good singers, Idol just wasn’t the place for her to really shine. Chance for Post-Idol Stardom: She’s got the skills. If fortune smiles, it’ll happen.

Some of the bigger Idol fanatics have done some their research, and it appears Antonella Barba’s scandalous photos are a hoax. The black sheep of the Top 10 Girls was one of the most beloved by voters, and it’s a safe bet to say she’ll now make the Finals out of an outpouring of sympathy. Since it’s unlikely she’ll improve, I at least hope she starts doing worse. Not that “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” was anything close to good, but the trainwrecks always add some much-needed spice to this show.

So a few embarrassing photos of Antonella Barba using the restroom leaked on the Internet. No biggie. Wait, what? New photos? And she’s doing what in them? Are you serious?

Antonella has landed in some serious hot water after one Web site released some unconfirmed photos of her performing a sex act on a male partner. Season 2’s Frenchie got kicked off for posing in some topless photos. This appears to be much more scandalous, especially considering dialidol.com is reporting that Antonella was among the top vote-getters last week.

Do you think she’ll be disqualified? Who would replace her if she were? Discuss your opinions by leaving comments!