Wednesday, August 05, 2009

American Idol: Paula Abdul is leaving

Over at NJ.com, I have my quick take on what appears to be Paula Abdul's departure from "American Idol." Short version: as easy as it was to pick on Pauler, Randy and/or Kara should have been shown the door first.

23 comments:

mb said...

Hooray! Long as Simon stays.

Anonymous said...

Please don't come to SYTYCD. Please don't come to SYTYCD.

J said...

"Go all sunshine and rainbows." You're absolutely right, someone needs to be there to pick these poor kids up.

I wonder if the ideal FOX show would be a combination of Idol and House, where people lined up and had Laurie and Cowell insult them as they walked by?

Okay, that would be my ideal FOX show.

Nicole said...

I agree, Randy or Kara should have been given the boot. As crazy as she was, Paula was the only performer on the panel, and perhaps it was her experience as one that made her less able to heartlessly criticize, as Simon often did. Simon and Paula also had chemistry, as insane as that sounds.

There is a weird All About Eve vibe to this, as if Paula is getting to old to do the job so they bring in a bland and younger woman for the panel. And with Kara still there, the chances of another crappy Idol single remain strong. This may be the beginning of the end for Idol... although the real end happens when Simon leaves.

troopermsu said...

Yawn

Mike F said...

can't imagine that in the future, I'll ever wonder what Paula thought of a performance

of course, I hope Kara's just a placeholder and she gets replaced after next season with somebody less annoying

I still like Randy, I enjoy him, he just does his thing

Dan said...

If you ask me, the Idol judges are particularly poor. You may as well just have Simon Cowell on his own. I haven't seen Kara, but I assume she was brought in to remove the deadwood of Paula -- and hey presto, it worked!

Simon did a similar thing in X Factor a few years ago (forcing Sharon Osbourne out by putting the more youthful Dannii Minogue on the panel to annoy her and force her to quit.) I dare say it's financially better if someone walks of their own accord, see.

Funny Hollywood said...

Could this be due to her rumored addiction/alcoholism? She seems so flaky most of the time.

Paula Abdul's Non-Addiction


One thing for sure, Idol won't be the same without her.

Anonymous said...

Just give Kara whatever Paula (allegedly) used to indulge in before the show, and I'm sure you can have the same wacky comments from her.

Andrew said...

OK, so Simons, yo, I'm just not feeling it dog. Sure, having Paula on the panel didn't actually, you know, help the singers with any constructive criticism, but it's good to have, you know, that one relentlessly positive voice who's always going to find the good in a performance.

And, Paula, yo. You're up there doing it, but, for me, it's just not all working. Sure, you've got the crazy thing going for you, but the show will stay the show without you, dawg, and so, yeah, for the money you're hoping for, they're willing to let you walk.

In theory the three judge panel of technical musical skills, performance & movement, and total package is a useful mix, and if Kara and Randy keep occupying the same space... actually, it doesn't make a difference. I'm still going to fast forward through anything the non-Simon judges say, so it doesn't really matter.

Anonymous said...

Bye bye Paula. We'll miss you???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Opl3TCK0o

Eric Fingerhut said...

This is a huge mistake for American Idol (and for Paula Abdul for that matter). As much as her judging oftentimes didn't make any sense, she was a key part of the show--the banter with Simon, the way she'd be moved to tears by contestants, the general loopiness. It's one of the things you talked about Wednesday morning when you talked about Idol. By contrast, when you talked about Kara, it was either "I can't stand her," or "I hope they get rid of her." After the complete mess of last season, not being able to re-sign Paula shows that the people now running Idol have no idea what they're doing and the show is headed to its twilight.

Interesting sidenote on the fascinating career of Paula Abdul. She was arguably the biggest pop music star around in the late 80s and early 90s, and then basically disappeared for a decade. Then she became a huge star doing something completely different with Idol. Wonder if she has a third act in her. (I doubt it, but who thought she'd have a second?)

filmcricket said...

I wonder if the ideal FOX show would be a combination of Idol and House, where people lined up and had Laurie and Cowell insult them as they walked by?


I've never watched more than about five minutes of American Idol, but I would soooo watch that show.

Anonymous said...

American Idol's falling apart officially in 3, 2, 1...

I'll still be watching, but if Simon goes next year as I think he will, this show is a goner.

And agreed on Randy and Kara going before Paul-er.

LA said...

Who didn't see this coming when they brought in Kara? And I agree with Alan that Randy is the useless one.

Maybe they can have a video montage of "highlights" of Paula's time on Idol with Carrie Underwood singing Home Sweet Home over it.

Anonymous said...

Alan, not sure why it will be a problem for Kara to play the role Paula does, minus the reported pill addiction? What "useful role" did Paula play? She loved 98% of the singers, and in the audition shows Kara agreed with her opinion on every single person except for one in the last episode...so other than the poorly written and delivered digs at Simon and the inability to look into the future, why can't Kara fill the Paula role?

Steven Sanchez said...

I wonder who is going to replace her, maybe someone from Americas Got Talent...or Mario Lopez...lol

Chrystal K. said...

That's sad, but I do like Kara DioGuardi. BTW Paula looks great, I had no idea she was 47!

ghoti said...

This won't affect me, since Kara and Paula sound the same in 120x fast forward.

Eric Hathaway said...

Paula leaving is a good thing so far as three idol judges is better than four, but they're going to lose a lot of that "fun factor" when she leaves...

Technology Slice said...

It sounds like Paula got a little greedy.

mdeals said...

PAULA ABDUL SAYS GOODBYE TO AMERICAN IDOL...
HOORAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Yea I stopped watching IDOL a couple of seasons ago.
I popped it on once or twice over the past season to check out the new judge. She is totally obnoxious.