Fox says Paula Abdul quitting 'American Idol'

[PAMMELA]

I may not be in the majority, but i'll miss Paula!! I don't know that I'm really sold on Kara....


Fox says Paula Abdul quitting 'American Idol'
Aug. 5, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Paula Abdul announced Tuesday she is quitting "American Idol," a show that she said became an international phenomenon with her help.

"With sadness in my heart, I've decided not to return" to the hit Fox TV singing contest, Abdul said in a posting on her Twitter account.

In a statement, Fox and the show's producers said Abdul was "an important part of the 'American Idol' family over the last eight seasons, and we are saddened that she has decided not to return to the show."

They said she was a "tremendous talent" and wished her the best.

On Monday, Fox announced that Kara DioGuardi would return for a second season on the "American Idol" judging panel that includes Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. The addition of Grammy-nominated songwriter DioGuardi last year raised questions about Abdul's future.

In July, Abdul told The Associated Press that she had been invited to stay with "Idol" as long as the show lasted and that she was optimistic that she would be able to negotiate a new contract.

But the 47-year-old singer-dancer said the invitation to come back was subject to agreement on the details of a new deal.

Abdul began working with a new manager, David Sonenberg, in recent weeks.

"I'll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon," Abdul said on Twitter.

Entertainment Tonight reports that Abdul's former colleague also used the social networking site to express his reactions to the news.

"About to go to sleep when I started seeing my blackberry blow up," wrote the show's host Ryan Seacrest on Twitter. "I have read what u have read and I am shocked and saddened about Paula."

[misskitty100]

I don't watch the show but is Paula *leaving* because they wouldn't pay her what she wanted or did the show not want her back?

[Jazzmatazz49]

Yeah, I'm pretty broken up about it too.

[Shugness]

I don't watch the show but is Paula *leaving* because they wouldn't pay her what she wanted or did the show not want her back?

I've kind of heard both - the other week she was upset she hadn't gotten a contract agreement proposal yet, now she's saying she choose not to re-sign/re-new/whatever and AI acts as if their upset she's leaving.

My thoughts are they low balled her wanting her to not sign back on - the 4 judge thing last year with the new girl seemed like an obvious effort to push Paula out if you ask me.

I really lost interest last year in AI though, so I'm not sure whether I will miss her or not.

[blazedog]

She isn't back because she isn't getting paid what she thinks she is worth.

I don't watch the show but I would think the only indispensable elements would be the host and Simon -- and they both got VERY generous contracts to renew.

I think the whole thing is funny -- does Abdul have any kind of career other than as a host on that show? Of course inflated ego has often been the source of many a stupid action in Hollywood (and elsewhere).

[Shugness]

I think the whole thing is funny -- does Abdul have any kind of career other than as a host on that show? Of course inflated ego has often been the source of many a stupid action in Hollywood (and elsewhere).

She had launched a jewelery line I think....it was on QVS though, if that tells you anything.

[PAMMELA]

The latest:

Calling Paula's Bluff
Aug. 5, 2009, 7:18 PM EST
By Kim Masters, The Daily Beast

American Idol's kookiest judge says she's leaving the show after eight seasons. But Kim Masters says even Paula Abdul's not crazy enough to walk away from millions of dollars—and fans.

Don't believe it yet.

The press has been full of "Paula leaving Idol" reports. Supposedly talks broke down after Fox offered Abdul a 30 percent raise that left the erratic American Idol judge unsatisfied. That still wouldn't have put her in Ryan Seacrest territory—he just signed a three-year deal worth $45 million. But Paula's deal is still worth millions. (According to the Los Angeles Times, she was getting around $4 million a year, initially asked for a raise to $20 million and dialed back to $12 million.)

Even without a massive raise, there are millions of dollars at stake. Paula Abdul is going to walk away from that kind of money? She isn't that crazy.

She does have a new manager, David Sonenberg, though, who presumably blew smoke up her skirt about her value to the show and, "If Ryan Seacrest is worth that then you must at least be worth this." So now he's trying to deliver. But remember when Alex Rodriguez re-signed with the Yankees in 2007? (His agent said he wouldn't renew his contract and the team wished him well. Eventually A-Rod put out a statement on his website saying that he wanted to come back.)

Note the language of Fox's statement, which was not an unequivocal, "Abdul is not returning," but a door-ajar "saddened that she has decided not to return."

And isn't the timing just slightly suspicious? Thursday morning, Fox has its turn at the annual gathering of television critics in Pasadena. So with all the television writers gathered in one place, Fox kicks off the day with a question-and-answer session on So You Think You Can Dance and a panel that includes former Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe. What do you suppose the critics will ask him about? After that there's a similar session with top network executives. Abdul tweeted about leaving the show just in time to make sure that Fox executives get peppered with questions in person by an army of journalists. But it's a win-win because Fox, too, can milk this dustup for all its worth.

Skepticism in Hollywood is running high. I emailed one top agent asking: "Paula: kabuki?"

"Yeah, just stupid," he replied.

"Sounds like a negotiation to me," said a top man at a rival network. "She reconsiders and does it for her fans."

An executive close to the situation allows that Abdul could come crawling back. And then, he observes, there's the Cowell factor. Simon has not spoken (publicly) and as any Idol fan knows, his opinion is the only one that counts.

American Idol is going into its ninth season—perhaps with softer ratings but still by far the top show on television. Abdul either provides heart or functions as the dotty aunt at the family picnic, depending on your point of view. But messing with the mysterious chemistry of a hit show is risky business.

I am slightly cowed by the fact that Richard Rushfield, the Los Angeles Times reporter whose beat is Idol, thinks this is for real. (But only a little.) I predict a deal is struck at $10 million.