как вариант: переписать drawBackground в CellRenderer

Код AS3:
var list:List = new List();
list.setStyle('cellRenderer', MyCellRenderer);
list.addItem( { label:'red', bgColor:0xFF0000 } );
list.addItem( { label:'green', bgColor:0x00FF00 } );
addChild(list);

Код AS3:
public class MyCellRenderer extends CellRenderer
{
override protected function drawBackground():void{
super.drawBackground();
var clrTransform:ColorTransform = new ColorTransform();
clrTransform.color = data.bgColor;
background.transform.colorTransform = clrTransform;
}
}