Idol’s Antonella Barba can’t publicly speak about her sexy scandal, but that won’t stop her former castmates from opening up about the racy photos that have overshadowed this year’s competition.

Alaina Alexander and Leslie Hunt, both 24, were shown the door at last week’s results show. Now, with their gag orders lifted, they recently shed light on how Antonella is holding up.

“She is a trooper,” pal Alaina says. “Antonella’s strong and she’s going to be just fine.” She goes on to explain that American Idol contestants were asked to make the production team aware of any, um, skeletons in their closets prior to filming.

But, as we know, things don’t always go as planned.

“It’s unfortunate when that sort of thing happens,” Alaina says. “But you have to just keep on going and keep doing what you’re here to do, and that’s just to entertain and sing.”

Leslie, however, says she had a feeling personality would play a key role in winning viewer votes.

“I knew getting into this that it wasn’t just about singing. I did a little research about who [in previous seasons] was eliminated when and what their voices sounded like. There’s really no formula. If someone has a personality, sometimes that will take them way farther than a good voice,” she said.

Without naming names, Alaina also revealed that there are a few Idol hopefuls who turn to the Internet to get feedback on their performances. “There are some contestants [who] sneak and try to read [commentary],” she says. “They read all the negative [items] and it really affects their performance and how they feel about themselves.”

We don’t know if Antonella has been online lately, but Leslie says she steered clear of gossip during her weeks on the Idol stage.

“It doesn’t do anybody any favors,” she says. “Sometimes when you’re in the spotlight it’s just a good idea to turn a blind eye, to keep things in perspective.”

As far as Antonella’s prediciment goes, Leslie urges fans to “get over it.” After all, she says, “It’s a singing competition.”

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Well, at least not the REALLY dirty sex-act pictures.

This IS Antonella: More PG-13 Pictures here

This is NOT Antonella: And this is the girl performing the sext act - that everyone’s all in a tizzy about.  When her face (and mouth) are not being obscured it’s rather obvious.

Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe says he has not seen any of the Internet pictures, and only learned of the sexually explicit shots from EW. ”We have really good background checks on everybody, and we deal with that every season,” he says. ”It’s sad, isn’t it, that your best friends are the ones that come forward with information that will go to Smoking Gun or put your photographs on the web?”

Jennifer Hudson has won Golden Globe and SAG awards – and is up for an Oscar – for her role in Dreamgirls – despite what she describes as an abusive experience on American Idol.

“On American Idol, you go through this mental thing; you’ve got to get yourself back together. You’ve been abused, misled and brainwashed to believe whatever they want you to think,” Hudson, 25, tells the new issue of Essence.

“You become a character – I became the girl in the turkey wrapping.” (On one episode, she wore an unflattering outfit that earned that label.) “I just knew I had to sing my way out of it. I don’t believe in looking back, and I didn’t look back.”

Hudson also dismisses rumors that there was tension on the Dreamgirls set between herself and costar Beyoncé Knowles. “We clicked from day one,” she says.

She says she, Knowles and their fellow Dreamgirl Anika Noni Rose bonded over the fact that they’re all Virgos, and all have a mole in the same spot on the left side of their necks.

“It’s amazing to me that God took three different women from three different walks of life and created the Dreamgirls,” Hudson says. “We were meant to be together. When you look at us, you see it’s all connected. I’m loving Beyoncé.”

Knowles has also dismissed feud rumors, telling reporters in December: “It’s really unfortunate that everyone is saying I’m jealous of Jennifer. … Because I’m a star they just automatically assume that I’m not humble enough to sit down and take a back seat, which I am.”

From EW:

LIFE AFTER IDOL
I like my first single, ”Over It,” because it’s clever. So many people say, ”Oh, I’m so over it, I’m so over him…” It’s a perfect little breakup song for women who are like, ”Ugh! [Singing] I’m over your lies.” A year from now, I’ll be over the song. [Laughs]

SORRY, CELINE
I’ve always been into pop, but it’s changed. Ten years ago, Celine Dion was the pop sound; now it’s more urban, so she’s not really what you hear. I’m still a fan of hers, it’s just not the kind of music I want to sing.

ON FICKLE FANS
The thing about Idol is, only so many fans who followed you on it are going to want your record. After that, [your music] needs to take you to people who don’t necessarily care about the show. I never bought Ruben Studdard’s records, even though I voted for him millions of times.

WE KNOW WHAT SHE DID LAST SUMMER
Andrea Bocelli and I hit it off that one time on Idol, and he asked if I’d go on tour for a few dates. It was so laid-back compared to the Idols tour. It was an honor to come off a reality show and work with one of the best singers in the world. Plus, we had, like, really good food.

JUSTIFYING JUSTIN
Once you’ve been on Idol, you have to transform yourself into a legitimate artist, and that’s what Justin Timberlake has done. No one remembers that he’s this guy who came off a silly show called The Mickey Mouse Club and then he was in a cheesy boy band, but, actually, he’s really talented. And he’s so cute.

…AND HER LITTLE DOG, TOO!
Her name is Nina, she’s 7 months, and she’s a Chihuahua. She’s like a baby, not shaky and mean like some people’s.

I was SO proud to see a fellow Oregonian on American Idol - and that he MADE IT to Hollywood! 

You probably wouldn’t see me cheering him on with a big ol’ homemade poster, but hey - I thought it was cool he was from Oregon.  (And Clackamas is only about a 1/2 hour away!)

But then he’s gotta go and have a friggin criminal record!

From TMZ:

Before he wowed Simon, Paula and Randy during last night’s “American Idol,” Thomas Daniels took his fair share of punishment from real judges over several criminal charges, including drunk driving.

TMZ has unearthed legal documents which reveal that in 2004, Daniels was convicted of DUI in Clackamas, Oregon. The 21-year-old, who was the first wannabe to get the green light from the “AI” crew on last night’s show, pled guilty and was sentenced to a one-year alcohol diversion program and a $680 fine. Daniels also attended eight AA meetings and saw a counselor once a week for two months. After the completing his DUI sentence, the incident was wiped from Daniels’ record.

TMZ spoke exclusively with Daniels who said, in reference to his DUI, “I was young and dumb and drinking and driving.”

In December 2005, Daniels was arrested again; this time for hit and run. He failed to appear in court for the arraignment for the hit and run, so Daniels was arrested again. TMZ could not find the disposition of the hit and run. Daniels called the incident “another young and dumb situation.”

When asked if he disclosed his criminal past to “American Idol” producers, Daniels had no comment.

First Oregon had Tonya Harding to be proud of…now this!

I love American Idol.  Seriously, how great was last night’s premiere?  Pretty freakin hilarious if you ask me!

After a record-setting season last year, “American Idol” looks poised to deliver even better ratings this year. Last night’s season premiere was not just the most-watched program of the 2006-’07 season by nearly 10 million viewers, it also was the second-most-watched edition of “Idol” ever. 

“Idol’s” sixth-season premiere drew 37.3 million total viewers last night on Fox, according to Nielsen overnights. That’s just 700,000 shy of the series-record 38 million who watched the season two finale nearly four years ago, and it’s almost 2 million more than last year’s then-record debut drew. 

It’s the most-watched premiere ever for the show, and it also pulled record ratings among adults 18-49. Last night’s two-hour premiere, which began at 8 p.m., averaged a 15.7 adults 18-49 rating, up 3 percent over last year’s 15.2 fast national rating. 

The show peaked with 41.5 million total viewers at 9:30 p.m., its final half hour. It also hit an astonishing 18.0 among 18-49s in that half hour. 

No show this season has put up numbers even close to “Idol’s.” The previous most-watched show was the season finale of “Dancing with the Stars,” which drew 27.5 million in November. 

It was also well ahead of the previous best among 18-49s, an 11.0 for the premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” in September. 

Certainly the show received a huge amount of pre-premiere buzz that helped build ratings. It also didn’t hurt that Fox advertised it on the highly rated NFL playoff games over the past few weeks. 

Another thing that may have helped was internet speculation over judge Paula Abdul’s recent bizarre behavior in an interview to hype the show, which is a big hit on YouTube. Abdul blamed the incident on an audio problem.

“Idol’s” huge night led Fox to an easy first-place finish for the night among 18-49s with a 15.7 average rating and a 36 share. CBS was second at 3.2/8, NBC third at 2.9/7, ABC fourth at 2.1/5, Univision fifth at 1.8/4 and CW sixth at 0.6/1.

FOX utterly dominated the night’s ratings with a 20.3 rating/30 share in households; CBS was the best of the rest at 7.8/12, followed by NBC at 6.5/10. ABC, 4.6/7, came in fourth, while The CW trailed with a meager 1.1/2.

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