People : She couldn’t keep a lid on it
Friends and fellow Point Pleasant, N.J., residents are rallying around Antonella Barba, the latest “American Idol” contestant caught up in a lewd photo scandal.
Several online images have surfaced allegedly showing the 20-year-old singer in everything from semi-nudity to a hard-core sex act.
“It’s the way this town is: Everybody knows everything about their friends,” says Point Pleasant resident Mark Dillon, 17.
“At least half the people in this town have pictures of their friends on the toilet. I’ve personally seen at least 20.”
Barba’s best friend and fellow “Idol” auditioner, Amanda Coluccio, insists it’s not her in the more pornographic shots.
“The really bad ones aren’t her. I’ve studied them,” Coluccio says. “It’s not her nose.”
An “Idol” publicist declined to comment on the situation.
Barba, who survived last week’s initial round, is scheduled to perform again on the show tonight.
Big ‘Idol’ wheels
Speaking of “Idol,” big names scheduled to appear on the Fox talent competition this season include Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross and Jon Bon Jovi.
Former “Idol” winner Carrie Underwood and finalist Kellie Pickler also will perform, while others appearing as celebrity coaches or guests include former Bee Gee Barry Gibb, country singer Martina McBride, Scottish singer Lulu and Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits.
Brown needs more green
At press time, R&B singer Bobby Brown remained in a Canton, Mass., jail while his lawyers scrambled to come up with $19,000 he owes in late child support and court fees.
Brown, who’s in the midst of a divorce from pop diva Whitney Houston, also pays support to a former girlfriend and their two children.
Says his attorney: “Although this agreement was put in place when he was Bobby Brown the star, this agreement is being enforced when he is not always able to find work.”
Black and the blues
Rapper Foxy Brown says she was unjustly arrested for allegedly spitting on a Florida beauty supply store owner and resisting arrest.
She could face jail time if a judge decides she violated probation from a case last year where she was accused of hitting two manicurists with a cell phone in a payment dispute.
Brown says she was dragged half-naked out of the store’s restroom in the latest incident, adding: “The only crime I’m guilty of is being a young black woman.”
Hobgoblins of fire
Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter in the film versions of the best-selling books, made his London stage debut Tuesday as a troubled stableboy in “Equus.”
While the role requires Radcliffe, 17, to strip naked and simulate sex, another onstage action has him in hot water: smoking.
The anti-smoking group ASH is complaining that his status as a role model might encourage young people to start smoking.
The birthday bunch
Actor Charles Durning is 84. Actor Gavin MacLeod is 76. Actress Bernadette Peters is 59. Actress Mercedes Ruehl is 59. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is 52. Actor John Turturro is 50. Actor Robert Sean Leonard (“House”) is 38.