Paula Abdul News Roundup! Plus, The Contestants Tweet for Paula
Ack! So much Paula Abdul news, so little time…Here’s a roundup of stuff from around the interwebs…
Andy Dehnart from Reality Blurred, “a Fremantle employee (who asked not to be identified by name for obvious reasons) told me that Paula wanted $20 million a year, confirming reports she wanted more than Ryan Seacrest’s $15 million a year. Ultimately, she wasn’t asked to return because of that demand and general fatigue about her antics.”
TMZ claims that the show made Paula two offers, and then she just went and quit by tweet. Idol peeps were taken by surprise.
The Wrap estimates “Abdul just walked away from around $11 million to $17.5 million” or, $5.5 million a year. Seacrest will take in 15 million a year in a deal that includes other projects with 19.
Ryan Seacrest said on his KIIS LA radio show this morning that Paula’s announcement wasn’t a publicity stunt, and that the news of her departure was as shocking to him as it was to her fans. List to Ryan talk about Paula here:
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According to E! Online, at this morning’s NBC executive session at the Television Critics Association press tour, an NBC exec, Paul Teledgy, said, “We wouldn’t rule out anything, Paula is an exceptional piece of talent.”
Nigel Lythgoe told Yahoo Music’s Lindsey Parker, that he’d love to have Paula come on So You Think You Can Dance as a guest judge/choreographer next year.
Paula plays coy in a recent interview with Sirius/XM radio HERE.
- MTV has a timeline of Paula’s long career HERE.
- Michael Slezak of EW believes there’s still time–before tomorrow’s auditions in Denver begin–for Paula and 19 to reconsider.
- Richard Rushfield, late of the LA Times writes his first Gawker piece–Five Reasons Paula Abdul Quit American Idol. He believes the producers pushed her to the brink.
- The always hilarious Jim Cantiello describes his 7 stages of grief.
- Four possible outcomes of Paula’s departure, from Maura Johnston of Idolator.
Who could replace Paula Abdul asks PopEater. - Paula’s best and worst moments, from Newsweek.
- Paula video highlights, from Salon.
After the Jump…the Idols weigh in via twitter…
- @KrisAllen4Real: @PaulaAbdul we love you! Glad I was able to be a part of your last season on the show. You showed us so much love.
- @dannygokey: @paulaabdul Im really sad 2 see Paula Abdul not coming back 2 idol. She was the judge with the biggest heart! She really will be missed
- @michaelsarver1: I am sad to see Paula not coming back to idol. It will be the contestants that suffer the most. She was a loving mother to us and I can’t…
- @IdolScott: I love you @PaulaAbdul – thank you for your incredible support on my American Idol journey.
- @ChrisSligh: I love Paula. She’s the only judge we had any real contact with outside of what you see on tv. She actually cared about us.
- @RyanSeacrest: “about to go to sleep when I started seeing my blackberry blow up. I have read what u have read and I am shocked and saddened about paula…Idol and the cast have grown with each other over the last 8 seasons..I can’t imagine the panel without puala. She’s a star @ a great friend…Spoke to randy..hope to speak with paula privately overnight.
- @CarlySmithson: “@PaulaAbdul I cant believe it !! We love you so much .You will be so missed .You were the one person that lifted our spirit on hard nights”
- @realbrookewhite: just heard the news @PaulaAbdul thank you for the genuine care and concern you gave to us contestants, your kind spirit will be missed
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60 Responses to “Paula Abdul News Roundup! Plus, The Contestants Tweet for Paula”
Kara is awkward. A milquetoast. Predictable. Boring.
Paula is a lioness. An endearing, wacky lioness. She has flavor. And she actually has her own fans. Heh.
Sure, the appropriate salary is simply what the market will bear. But if I could control the market, I would say: A) Simon is worth 2-3 times that of Ryan; B) Simon is worth 3-5 times that of Paula; C) Simon is worth 5-7 times that of Randy; and D) Simon is worth 7-10 times that of Kara. Jmho.
Thank God he said “talent” — I thought he was going to say something else!
From EW:
From The Wrap:
I wonder how Paula feels about being compared to everyone’s crazy aunt and/or uncle today. And they’re trying to be nice!
Paula’s departure is a lose/lose for everybody. The show almost self-destructed this season when the new producers monkeyed with the format and imposed Kara, who is almost universally disliked. There were three things this year that rescued Idol after the producers sabotaged it: Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, and Kris Allen.
So now the mindless and obnoxious Kara will give us another reason not to take Idol seriously, in addition to the Bible Belt demographics and voter fraud.
abbeysee, I totally agree with what you wrote.
When AI first came out, Paula WAS the biggest name in the cast, at least in America. Yes, we knew Randy Jackson as a good guitarist and session musician. Simon Cowell? Wasn’t he the guy responsible for Teletubbies? Ryan Seacrest was a late night DJ.
Knowing what the crew gets paid for these shows, it shocks my how little (yes, l said little) Paula was making and how undervalued she was.
I’ll miss her on the show, but personally I think she should continue the walk. As a woman, I will applaud her. I think SYTYCD is an excellent direction for her to go and I hope she and Nigel come to a meeting of the minds.
Jim Cantiello I love you… thats all..
Adam hire Paula to be his choreographer??????? Talk about a lose/lose. Why in the hell would an up and coming possible star hire a has been, 5 minutes of fame, looney tune, half ass dancer, wacko, addict, know nothing to start their career? Oh right – her ridiculous, distracting, not on-beat dancing during every contestant’s performance is supposed to show that she is a “choreographer? Oh wait, since she is obviously under the influence or just plain disturbed most of the time, maybe she can choreograph – and I use that term very loosely – to stage a Grateful Dead concert, spin around until you fall down type of thing? IMO that’s all she would be capable of. Does anyone really think that she was single-handedly responsibly for the so-called Idol group number this year? Furthermore, does anyone really think that it was that good?
Please let her be gone. I started watching during Season 3 and was embarrassed for her every time she tried to speak. I usually left the room because it was waaay too painful to watch. I agree with Spense and Tess from the other thread – whiney attention whore to the worst degree. I spent the weekend with friends and family who are not on the internet like we are. When the possibility of her being fired (because IMO that’s what really happened to the greedy bitch) came up, every single one of them said “thank God. I sure hope she’s gone. I’m tired of watching her babbling. What is she on.”
And as said here before – obviously the caring, nurturing, all about the contestants, made the show an international hit, wacko cared more about the money than anything else. I kind of feel sorry for the people who are buying her schtick. I mean does an artist who wants people to take them seriously announce a major career change via Twitter? Puleeeeeease.
I think selling her god awful jewelry on the home shopping network is exactly where she belongs.
This. What I don’t understand is that all these ideas, be a judge on SYTYCD, choreography, judge AGT, etc., Paula could have been doing for the last eight years. American Idol is a 16 week gig. Paula had the rest of the year to develop projects, star in other reality shows, choreography for everyone under the sun. Simon judges 2 other shows and is producer of even more. Ryan produces other shows and is on the radio. Randy produces an MTV show and still works in the studio. Even Nigel went out and started his own show. The only one who hasn’t made good use of her off time from Idol has been Paula. Now Paula is suddenly going to be bombarded with great opportunities and make more money than she ever did on Idol? Not going to happen.
Oh, American Pie! Such a classic and only Jim Cantiello is aloud to take liberties with the lyrics, yes, only Jim…
BTW, Paula makes good with the dancing. More to come…
I’m surprised they didn’t give her the money she wanted. If it wasn’t for her crazy antics Idol wouldn’t get half of the publicity it does every season. She’s a freaking P.R. persons wet dream!!