Antonella Barba

Antonella Maria Barba (born November 26, 1986) is an American singer who placed sixteenth on the sixth season of American Idol. She was eliminated before the top 12 were chosen. Barba was born in California to parents Vincenzo and Valerie, and raised in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. She went to high school at Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank, New Jersey. She has one younger brother and two younger sisters. Barba graduated in 2008 from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., studying architecture. Antonella is currently a non-partisan spokesperson for ElectionMall's Voter Space. Antonella Barba was first seen on television at the New York auditions of Idol in a January 2007 episode. She auditioned with her friend Amanda Collucio; after Collucio sang her rendition of Patsy Cline's "Crazy" Barba took center stage and belted out a smooth performance of Deniece Williams' "Free." Paula dubbed Antonella "fantastic" and Simon advised her "when someone is down on the floor kick them". Nevertheless, the judges praised her performance and liked it better than her friend Amanda's performance; eventually both received golden ticket passes to Hollywood. Barba made it into the top 24 but her friend was cut before the top 40.