Antonella Is Booked This Summer at CU

By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Sunday, June 3, 2007

Antonella Barba is coming back to Washington! Almost definitely. She's pretty sure, anyway.

The Catholic University architecture student, who became a whirlwind sensation on "American Idol" and a cautionary tale for the MySpace generation, says she'll return this summer to make up the classes she missed while competing on the show, in hopes of graduating with her friends next spring. Though if showbiz offers arise . . . ?

"If I want to do music, I'll have to pursue it," she said hesitantly. "Wouldn't it be great if I could do both?"

At least we'll (maybe) have her around for a bit. Our other local-ish Idol, third runner-up LaKisha Jones , had only lived at Fort Meade for a few months before she was whisked off to Hollywood; now she plans to move back to Houston or settle in L.A.

New Jersey native Barba, 21, was an early breakout star this season. A coltish beauty with a jazzy vibe, she briefly became the most Googled girl in the universe. So of course someone leaked boudoir photos to the Internet; later some XXX-rated photos emerged, though friends denied the woman in them was Barba. When some "pitchy" notes just barely kept her from the top 12, Barba vanished: "I just wanted to stay out of the public eye a bit." While other "Idol" evictees jumped at any fame-extending invitation, Barba says she didn't return a phone call for two months.

"You have to wait for what's right," she said. "You can't take the first thing."

If she had to do it all over again -- the mortifying loss of privacy that came with fame -- would she? "Um . . . I don't regret going on 'American Idol.' I'm thankful for the opportunities. . . . Even if you've made right or wrong decisions, you can't regret them, because you've learned from them. Everything happens for a reason. I'd like to know what it is, though."

So, she's coming back for summer classes . . . and definitely for the fall? "Probably!" she said. "It's a question mark."

Talk About School Spirit: Jim Kimsey Doubles Up on Reunions

Jim Kimsey hosted both of his 50-year high school reunions this past week.

When he was 13, Kimsey won a scholarship to Gonzaga College High School, a Catholic boys school -- but was expelled senior year for being "disruptive." "I was every teacher's nightmare," the philanthropist tells us. "I did not pay enough respect to authority." His mother persuaded St. John's College High School to take him, and he graduated in 1957. "The sainted Brother Luke saved my life," he says. "I would probably have gone to jail." Kimsey went on to West Point, three combat tours and finally AOL, where he made his many millions. In 1982 Gongaza gave him a retroactive 1957 diploma.

Now there are Kimsey Technology Centers at both schools -- and last week there were those two reunions. Festivities kicked off Thursday with a dinner for his St. John's classmates at Kimsey's McLean home; last night he hosted the Gonzaga gang. "You revert right back to where we used to be 50 years ago," he said. "I always advise everybody, 'Never miss a reunion.' "

Sorry, You're Not on the List

One in an occasional series of dispatches from parties you should have crashed.

Occasion: Friday's Washington National Opera's annual ball, which raised $3 million for the company.

Lure: Perfect excuse to show off big jewels and ball gowns -- 550 guests paid $1,000 per ticket for black-tie dinners at 21 embassies around town, followed by dancing at the residence of Peruvian Ambassador Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos.

Scene: Under the full moon, trolleys ferried guests up the candlelit drive to the residence where a massive palm-filled tent re-created Lima's main square. "Taking the bus up was like climbing up Machu Picchu," quipped one world traveler.

VIPs: Supreme Court justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Bar: Exotic -- piscos (sugar cane liqueur), manginis (champagne, mango, Alize liqueur) and passionate coladas (dark rum, passion fruit, coconut).

Midnight delights: A room full of chocolate -- dark, rich, deadly -- including cups of hot chocolate made with 50 percent, 60 percent or 70 percent cocoa. Ball patron Jan Lodal reached for the high-test: "It takes a strong woman to choose 70 percent, and I don't want to be left behind."

Swag: Silver bookmark, CD of Andean/Latin fusion band Raymi, chocolate truffles from Peru.

Readers Tell Us

We wrote that Jenna Bush's new AIDS-in-Panama book marks "her transformation from party girl to global activist" and received these letters.

Arlington, Va., writes: Why did you find it necessary to make a snide comment about Jenna Bush -- "party girl"? Why not just mention her new book?

Arlington, Tex., writes: I myself will be buying [Jenna's] book, and thanks for not having negative comment about this. Most columnists would have written something sarcastic about them, and it was nice for a change to just read about the twins and what is going on in their lives.

Send your tips and comments to reliablesource@washpost.com.