Paula Abdul's manager: She'll leave 'Idol' if 'rude' producers don't step up new deal [Updated]

Paula Abdul is unhappy. And unless the producers of "American Idol" change her frown to a smile soon, she'll dance like there's no tomorrow away from TV's No. 1 show.

"Very sadly, it does not appear that she's going to be back on 'Idol,' " David Sonenberg, Abdul's manager, told The Times when contacted about the judge's contract negotiations.

With auditions for the ninth season due to start Aug. 6, Sonenberg says he doesn't even have a proposal for a new contract from FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, the production companies behind the show. The new season is scheduled to premiere in January.

"I find it under these circumstances particularly unusual; I think unnecessarily hurtful," he said of the contract holdup. "I find it kind of unconscionable and certainly rude and disrespectful that they haven't stepped up and said what they want to do."

[Updated at 11:59 p.m.: Sonenberg began managing Abdul at the end of June, he said. According to him, he has "reached out to the head of business affairs at 19" and told Fox that "Paula would love to be on the show." He said Fox told him he would hear from them, but "I have not received any proposal whatsoever."]

Representatives for Fremantle, 19 and Fox all separately declined to comment.

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Paula Abdul's post-performance parting words

Green satin-clad "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul was told to "work it girl, work it" by someone in the press room. She laughed and gave the order right back. After all, Abdul's used to banter sitting between Randy, Kara and Simon at the judges' table. Backstage at the Idoldome we caught up with Paula to get some post-performance final thoughts.

On the final Adam and Kris performance showdown:
When asked who third-place contestant Danny Gokey's voters would break toward, Abdul noted Adam Lambert and Kris Allen have "separate, unique talents."

On the song Kara DioGuardi co-wrote for the finalists:
A mildly noncommttal polititian-style statement: "I'm proud of Kara." But Abdul didn't have anything quite as nice to say about Simon, "Simon is there to always ruin a moment."

On post-show plans:
The former Laker girl (across from the Staples Center as the Lakers are on the court) will stay busy selling her jewelry line for three hours for HSN.

On the judges "will they, won't they all be returning next season?" question
 "Tune in!" she shouted while being pulled off stage.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Simon Cowell and Susan Boyle visit Oprah Winfrey

Set your Tivos, America! Three pop culture titans are coming together on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Monday. In an episode entitled, "The World's Got Talent," talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey will talk to king of mean Simon Cowell about his rumored departure from "American Idol." But that's only part of the bait.

America's favorite everywoman, Susan Boyle, will also appear. Boyle will allow Oprah's cameras to poke around her Scotland digs for the special eppy. Sounds like an episode of "Cribs." But, ya know, minus the Cristol-stocked fridge and spinning rims.

Susan Boyle first burst onto the scene in April, when she auditioned for the series "Britain's Got Talent" with a heart-wrenchingly beautiful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream," from Les Misérables.  Her other-worldly vocal range provided a stark contrast to her dowdy appearance, and left the typically cynical Cowell -- who judges the show -- astounded and moved, along with the rest of the audience.

Since then, Boyle has become a bona fide sensation, with videos of her performance sweeping the Internet. So of course, she went and got a makeover. But Cowell says she needs to focus on herself now, not her looks.

“I am tired now of hearing about the way she looks or the kissing or this or that," Cowell told ET.  "Get yourself together, sweetheart, for the big one, which is the semifinals [of 'Britain’s Got Talent']. Chose the right song. Focus yourself. Shut your front door and maybe take a holiday and come back as the person you want to be, not the person you think you should be.”

Although his words may sound harsh, Cowell isn't too sour on Boyle. After all, rumor has it he's already setting her up with a record deal on his label.

-- Stephanie Lysaght

Related:

Simon Cowell on Ryan Seacrest: 'He's kind of cute, but annoying'

Photo credit: Wireimage

Paula Abdul stays focused on her craft

The ‘American Idol’ judge has an album due out. Her reps negotiate an ‘AI’ contract extension with Fox.

"American Idol" viewers are accustomed to seeing the show’s "nice judge" Paula Abdul grapple for just the right words to deliver her verdicts. But on Monday afternoon in a Burbank rehearsal space, she strutted boldly across the floor,  directing six strapping backup dancers, who careened and kneeled in her wake, then lifted her to a platform about 15 feet high. There, she paused for the merest second at the edge, and then dropped face first toward the floor — her petite frame rescued midplunge  by the arms of her dancers.

"I’m fearless," she said a few minutes later in her dressing room. "The dancers were more afraid than I am. I was like, ‘Guys, I know you’re going to catch me. You’re not going to drop me on my head.'"

There will be more daring plunges in coming weeks as Abdul finds herself at a critical career crossroads.  With a new album due out (fans will get a sample of the single on tonight’s "Idol"), she prepares to reintroduce herself as a singer to the generations that have come of age since her monster hits of the ’80s. She’s in the midst of contract negotiations with Fox about another season of "Idol" amid lingering questions about whether whether she’ll return.

And she’ll be doing it sober: After years of denying that she had any drug or alcohol dependencies, in a June cover story in Ladies’ Home Journal, Abdul said that over Thanksgiving she went to a spa for ?detox treatment for her ?painkiller addiction. The revelation, after saying it wasn’t true so many times, seems to be a part of an effort to get the judge-in-all-her-facets out before the public, beyond the often flummoxed face behind the desk.

Another season?

Although it has been widely - and wildly - speculated that the show’s producers would use this season’s addition of the fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, to squeeze out Abdul, sources close to Abdul and the network confirmed that Fox has begun negotiations to renew her contract and seem hopeful an agreement can be reached?before it expires at season's end.

Fox had no official comment for this story, saying it does not speak about contract negotiations, but the network has publicly expressed hope that Abdul will be back for the show’s ninth season.
If there is a hangup, it is likely to be the reportedly vast  disparity in the stars’ salaries.  Last year, former "Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told Australia’s Courier Mail that the show’s trademark tough judge, Simon Cowell, earns $36 million each season (not including income from his involvement with "Idol" grads’ records). Cowell’s contract expires after next season, and he has been making noise that he might move on.

Sources close to the show say Abdul earns a fraction of Cowell’s figure, pegging it at around $2 million.

While the numbers are haggled over, Abdul has new music to introduce. Tonight, she will cross over the judges’ desk and take the stage to perform on the results show. Abdul called the song -- "I’m Just Here for the Music" -- a "dance anthem." It is the title track of her album to be released this fall. Abdul gushed that the work is a return to the heights of "Forever Your Girl," her 1988 debut, which sold 12 million copies worldwide.

"It’s got that magic feeling to it, and when that happens, you know it," Abdul said of the new opus. "There’s no demographic, it really just spans the extent of who I am. This album is about my life right now."

(In a review of the single, Entertainment Weekly called Abdul’s voice "an electronic squeak," but the critic wrote that he "thoroughly enjoyed tilting my head backward and pouring every last worthless crumb down my gullet.")

All a-Twitter

Eight years into Abdul’s second act as an "Idol" judge, her life right now seems full. Her recent activities include not only her album but a line of jewelry, handbags and accessories (with cosmetics soon to follow) and perhaps the most important of modern triumphs -- a Twitter feed (@PaulaAbdul) that has just passed 100,000 followers.

In her dressing room, preparing to run through her number again, the fearless Abdul of the dance floor again became the more tentative, shy presence known to tens of millions of "Idol" viewers, carefully searching for the right words to channel her fonts of energy.

Asked whether the many avenues she is pursuing now are the first steps to a post-"Idol" life, Abdul offered an equivocal answer:

"Here's the thing with me. If you think 20 years ago, I was a Laker girl and having a No.?1 single with ‘Straight Up,’ and choreographing from 7:30 in the morning till 1 p.m. at ‘The Tracey Ullman Show.’ Then I'd leave my assistant there and go down to Universal Studios and work on the George Michael 'Faith' tour, while two doors down I’d be working on the Jackson reunion tour. Then I’d go into the studio at midnight while at 5 a.m. I’d pull into the Fox parking lot and sleep for a couple of hours. I thrive on that. I do lots of things, and I feel like I’m circling back to where all the magic happened, and I’m having the blessings of being able to do that."

Getting ready to go run through the dance routine again, she continued, "I stay out of the negotiation area, and I let my people handle that because I have to stay focused on being an artist and doing what I do best. I love my job. And I’m having my best time ever this season. And you know what? As long as I’m having fun, loving what I’m doing, everything will work itself out."

-- Richard Rushfield

Editor’s note: This story summarized  a recent Ladies’ Home Journal cover story saying that Paula Abdul went to a spa for detox treatment for her painkiller addiction. The exact wording of in the Ladies’ Home Journal story read that “determined to overcome her habit, she checked into the La Costa Resort and Spa, in Carlsbad, California, to wean herself off her medications in one fell swoop.” In this Web version of the story, there are question marks around the words "detox treatment for her" because of a formatting error and should not have appeared there.

Photo: Paula Abdul with dancer DJ Guthrie rehearses her a song 'I'm Just Here for the Music.'  Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Simon Cowell on Ryan Seacrest: 'He's kind of cute, but annoying'

Thanks to intrepid "American Idol" blogger MJ over at mjsbigblog.com for posting this hilarious video of the painfully charming Simon Cowell on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson."

In the video, Cowell discusses, of course, the majesty that is Susan Boyle, and even said he would like to get the movie rights to her remarkable story.

"It was just one of those special, special auditions.... I think it'd be a great movie," Simon said in a rare moment of warmth. But that didn't last long. Soon, he was attempting to cast Craig Ferguson in the role of Susan Boyle, saying, "I was just imagining you in a wig, actually."

As always, Cowell took no prisoners, mocking Ferguson's hair (which he classified as "a bit of a mess") and skewering "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, who was not even present.

"I'm a German shepherd. Ryan is like a sausage dog," Cowell said. "You know how the little dog always tries to get all the attention of the bigger dog.... He's kind of cute, but annoying."

In the interview, Cowell also touched on a bizarre and little-known story: the time he was offered $150,000 to judge a couple having sex. Cowell rejected the offer, but, in retrospect, said, "I absolutely should have taken the money." So, if that couple is still together, Cowell is in. Though he was quick to point out that "with inflation it's now 250."

Related:

Simon Cowell: 'I haven't made any decisions'

Is Simon Cowell — gasp! — leaving 'American Idol'?

—Stephanie Lysaght

Photo: WireImage

Live from the Idoldome: The top seven choose life

One p.m. on the CBS lot and all is fairly quiet save sporadic bursts of teenage cheering coming from just outside the Idoldome. Approaching, one finds not "America Idol" itself but "Idol Tonight," one of the largest bodies orbiting in the "Idol" planetary system, taping the weekly review show.

Appearing on the TV Guide network, "Idol Tonight" is one of the four weekly shows devoted to covering every fluctuation of the "Idol" universe and is also one of the major stops for former Idols touring the globe. This week: Elliott Yamin and the recently ousted Megan Joy.

I chat briefly with Yamin, who is making the publicity rounds after the release of his new single “Fight For Love.”   He tells me he’s spent the last five weeks “door to door campaigning” in support of his single, stopping in at radio stations across America plugging his work. Asked whether fans still know him, three year after his "Idol" stint, Yamin nods. “Everywhere I go, the 'American Idol' name still carries weight, which is great.”  Asked how it feels to be back, Yamin looks around and says, “It feels like home.”

'American Idol's' worst idea ever: Team-judging

This season's new "judges' save rule" was built up by producers as an earth-shatteringly significant change to the way "American Idol" would be run. But in this Idol Tracker's opinion, last night's sudden switch, in which only two judges were able to assess each performance, was considerably more significant and could have much more far-reaching consequences for certain singers.

In a word: Cowell. Simon Cowell makes or breaks America's opinion on these contestants and is cited by viewers, time and time again, as the judge whose opinion they most value. And can you even imagine the way Cowell would have skewered Matt Giraud's painful ditty last night, if given the chance? If Giraud stays tonight, it's because he was spared the wrath of Cowell.

In the case of Lil Rounds, would the singer have been helped by not having the King of Mean rate her performance, enraging her so much she finally talked back? 

For a refresher on which judges critiqued each performance, and what they said, read this Associated Press story.

What do you all think? Was the new judging format benign, or could it have serious, unintended effects on the way America votes?

-- Stephanie Lysaght

Photo credit: Fox

Related:

American Idol Buzzmeter: Who will go home?

Simon Cowell: 'I haven't made any decisions'

Simon Cowell, who has one year remaining on his contract as a judge on "American Idol," hinted in a new interview that he may leave the series because he's too busy with other projects.

In a statement to The Times, issued through his representatives, Cowell reiterated the point:

"I have a great attachment to 'American Idol,' but with all the other shows I'm juggling, at some point, a decision has to be made. Right now, the only certainty is that I'm still on 'Idol,' still love doing it and still have a year under contract. So, while I'm looking at all options for the future, I haven't made any decisions."

-- Greg Braxton

Is Simon Cowell -- gasp! -- leaving 'American Idol'?

He'd better be playing with our emotions. Because in a recent interview with Britain's Daily Mirror, Simon Cowell said he might -- gasp! -- leave "American Idol."

“Most people do one show a year and I do three, and they involve a lot of traveling," the overextended 49-year-old told the Daily Mirror. "One may have to go. I don’t know which one. That is the problem, I like all of them. I can’t imagine not doing 'Britain’s Got Talent' and I can’t imagine not doing 'X Factor.' But I guess America is more likely to go because I have got one year under contract. Maybe that will be the end.”

Here's hoping Cowell was just sucking up to the British publication with that ludicrous comment.

Also in the interview, Cowell was grilled on his love life. The famed judge ended his six-year relationship with Terri Seymour last October. According to Cowell, Seymour is still a huge presence in his life.

“I see [Seymour] all the time and we speak every day, and that applies to all my exes – they are my best friends.” Who knew the king of mean was such a saint in his personal relationships? Staying friends with the exes is no easy feat. 

Later in the interview, Cowell took another jab at "Idol," saying, “in terms of the auditions, I much prefer doing 'Britain’s Got Talent' than 'X Factor' and 'Idol' because they genuinely make me laugh. I have no idea what is coming next. It is genius TV. It is beautifully made and brutally observed.”

Cut it out, Cowell. Because if you do decide to break up with America, it's really over. We are not going to talk to you on the phone every day and hang out with you every weekend like those other exes.

-- Stephanie Lysaght

Photo credit: WireImage

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