The National Enquirer has run a lot of insider stories on Paula Abdul’s dealings with American Idol, so this story might come from a reliable source. They’re reporting that Abdul is gloating over the fact that the show seems to be struggling now that Simon has left and they’ve replaced the entire judge’s panel except for Randy. Paula is said to be claiming that the show is all but over and producers have no one to blame but themselves. They reportedly failed to meet her salary requirements but ended up paying J.Lo more.
“Mark my words, you are watching the death of ‘American Idol’! It’s on it’s last legs! No one can save it!” Paula told a pal.
Paula – who exited the show in a huff over salary issues just before last season – it tickled that producers are having trouble finding entertaining judges and worthy contestants for the 10th edition of the one-time powerhouse reality series, which begins in January.
“She believes it serves them right for letting her walk away,” an insider told The Enquirer. “Paula still believes that she was the best thing ‘Idol’ had going for it, and producers let her slip through their fingers by being so tightfisted when she was renegotiating her contract…”
And the 48-year-old singer/choreographer is gloating even more since it was revealed that “Idol” producers had to shell out $12 million to get J.Lo – $2 million more than Paula had asked for.
“What goes around comes around,” Paula told her pal. “The show could have saved a lot of aggravation and money if they had just given me what I deserved.
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 11, 2010]
I know Paula wasn’t always “there” and was sometimes loopy and incoherent, but I liked her on Idol and I think she’s partially right. She right in that producers should have kept her on, but in no way is that show “over.” Idol may be slipping in the ratings and occasionally getting bested by Dancing with The Stars, but it’s still a television juggernaut. Even if its ratings slip it’s wildly popular and will continue to be on television for years. The show really lost out by losing Simon, though, not Paula.
Paula Abdul is shown on 0/17, 6/13 and 5/26/10. Credit: WENN.com
bwhahahahahahaha
pass the vodka filled coke cup! I love Paula!
Paula then went on to fall asleep on the interviewer, murmering something about Ryan Seacrest and beards.
I thought her loopiness was part of her appeal on the show. I missed her last season and now that Simon is gone, I won’t be watching this season.
I agree with Paula in the fact that yes, AI will most certainly fail. If I were the producers, I would have kept Paula, and J-Lo never would have been a thought in their minds. Just like she hasn’t been in like forever. She is a washed up hasbeen. And, will someone please tell her she looks like a frumpy, old woman in those jumpsuits.
However, I do not agree with Paula when she states, “she was the best thing ‘Idol’ had going for it.” Let’s not go there, because you ain’t all that either. Although, you absolutely are the shit when it comes to J-Lo.
I, for one, am going to tune in…..Because, I know that Steve Tyler is going to be the new Paula. I want to see how he is going to be on TV. I think this will be interesting!
If there is a God, then indeedd this will be the final season.
I can almost hear the death rattle now.
Paula or Jlo. That’s like trying choose between a root canal or a pap smear.
I’d rather have Paula than JLo, although I liked PA in her “rush, Rush” days better than the sometimes “absent-minded” one on Idol.
Maybe losing Simon wasn’t so bad, after all that came out recently about using Autotune etc. in the UK. I mean, they even had to admit SuBo was electronically “improved” *rolls eyes*
Sour Grapes. She should have taken the money. For that job she deserved maybe $300 000 a year.
A few years ago, they could have switched out Randy for someone a little more current, exciting, or cutting edge. I liked Paula and Simon, they had good chemistry and they made Idol work. Everything started going downhill after Paula left in terms of the way the show works. Now, they have 3 washed up, over the hill (JLo- getting there) judges involved with music from a different era- Randy, the 1980’s, JLo, the late 1990s and early 2000’s (last time she was successful), and Steven Tyler epitomizes the 1970’s and 1980’s, although they found commerical chart success into the 1990’s. Steven maybe has some insight as to what makes a musician stick around through the decades (that it-factor) and can could possibly bring that. But, I’m not so sure that JLo does a lot of thinking about anyone or anyone’s career other than her own, so that one really puzzles me.
she should be so grateful to AI because before AI she was on her way to nowhere. fast! how many quadrillions has she earned already for getting drunk on national TV? biatch, pleez!
No way does anyone deserve that kind of $$, but compared to her co-hosts Paula probably is right about what she should be earning. And she, Simon & Randy DID have a good chemistry, which was woefully lacking last season.
I think she’s right that Idol is on it’s last legs.
Paula is absolutely correct. I didnt watch last season and I won’t be watching it this year either. The only reason I tuned in was for Simon. He didn’t seem happy without Paula, so I tuned out.
Tyler is going to breathe new life into AI. I thought it was over when Simon announced he was leaving, but with Tyler in the mix…it’s going to be great.
Like others, I think she’s right. The final nail in the coffin was Simon leaving. AI doesn’t seem the same without the original team, and once you remove Simon from the equation, it just isn’t the same show. Part of the appeal was the fact that they were a team who was comfortable with one another and used to doing their job as a group. It was that group dynamic that was part of the attraction.
Without Simon & “Pauler” its over!
Nah…they probably figured it was worth it to get rid of her drunk ass, and pay J-Lo $2 million more, to avoid the drunken shenanigans. J-Lo’s a diva though, so a whole host of “new” problems should accompany her. It’s just sour grapes for Paula.
I think the whole show’s a waste of time. It’s rigged, the contestants are a bunch of no talents, and the “judges” couldn’t judge traffic tickets.
oh, Paula, I miss your slurred speech!
I haven’t watched since you left.
hilarious
Shes right-they should have kept Paula because she was wildly entertaining and her and Steven Tyler could have pooled their vicodin/xanax or whatever and I think the results would have been so amusing!
Aside from having an ego the size of a continent,Lopez has no personality,sense of humor and definitly no talent…
Yeah, Paula & Simon made the show. The “talent” was marginal anyway, you can see better unknowns in small concerts or clubs anywhere. We only watched a little of it last year, thought it was horrible. Won’t be watching it anymore, can’t stand La Lopez, a truly vile, stuck up, arrogant, obnoxious human being.
1)Simon was why I watched, not Paula.
And 2), no one “deserves” $10 million, Paula. No one needs that kind of paycheck, ever.
No matter what people think about Paula, I have said since she left and Simon announced he’d be leaving after one more season (the most recent one) that the show would last two more seasons.
And I still think that, especially after the snooze of a season they had last season.
The judges should’ve been of course Steven Tyler,Stevie Nicks and Stevie Wonder.If not Stevie Wonder then Billy Joel