FanWorthy

Should They Stay Or Should They Go?

With their contracts almost up, rumors of American Idol judges Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul’s departures are constantly circulating.  

Cowell is busy with his numerous projects, and is smart in deciding that AI would be the one to go.  While I’d be sad to see him go, I realize that we’re in the “fall” part of “The Rise and Fall of the Great American Reality Show.”  Cowell would be wise to get out before the empire collapses altogether.  And I mean really, with Paula growing ever-more incoherent, a new judge who can’t do first grade math, and Ryan Seacrest (enough said),  can you really blame him?  

Click the article’s image* for the whole story at Reuters:

Meanwhile, it’s a different story for everyone’s favorite mess, Paula Abdul.  Click on the picture* for the article from Newsday.com:

Awww, how sweet. How can anyone possibly think they don’t get along?

Anyway, the interview-style article is priceless.  She does manage to say that she would like to keep doing the show. And I have to give the interviewer serious props for deciphering actual sentences.   Like this one:

 ”It’s taken me a while to get comfortable in my own skin with the show.”

And by comfortable she means rambling and messing up lines, re: disco week results show.  Maybe she should go back to being uncomfortable.  I’ve seen clips of the first season on Youtube when they did a tribute to Paula for the group song and she came up on stage with Kelly and the gang, even danced a little.  Fast forward seven years and she probably would fall off the stage…again, re: disco week results show.

Oh, and, interesting fact I didn’t know before this article:  

“Well, I [Paula] started her [Kara DioGuardi's] success. And I’m proud of it. happy of it. I moved a stranger from NY, told her to give 2 week’s notice to billboard magazine, and moved a stranger into my home in LA…”

“I actually think that Simon got mad that we are friends and that I actually knew her and that her humble beginning began sleeping in my guest bedroom and I just believed in her.”

What??  Really?  Why hasn’t this been mentioned??  I’d like to hear more about this, please!

*Disclaimer: Both pictures were posted alongside their articles and in no way belong to me.

The Cool Table

Kara DioGuardi might have managed to land a spot at the cool kids’ table on the American Idol set, but apparently that doesn’t mean she’s rolling with the popular crowd just yet:

PopEater.com: Three’s Company, Four’s a Crowd on ‘Idol’

There are actually several surprising pieces of information in this article I’d like to address.   Yes, Popeater isn’t the most reliable source, and their source – OK! magazine - is worse.  But it’s fun to pretend everything in it is true so I can pick it apart.  Shall we?

First: “‘During breaks, Simon, Randy and Paula would leave the table to talk to the crowd or get food, leaving Kara to swivel in her chair,’ an eyewitness adds.”

While this is intended to diss the other three judges, it also says a lot about Kara.  The other judges ditch her, so she sits around waiting for them to come back?  Why?  Is she asking for sympathy from the audience?  If she wanted to be an adult about it, she should at least act like she doesn’t care.  She could talk to the crowd on her own.  Then again, the article claims that fans haven’t been showing the love for Kara either, so maybe that’s not the best idea. 

Second: “‘Throughout the process, Simon, Randy and Paula would reference previous seasons, and Kara would have no idea what they were talking about. They would just say, ‘You had to be there.’ Kara is clearly the new girl, and they don’t seem to all get along,” another source says.”

Now that is a little mean.  It’s one thing not to accept Kara as their BFF.  But that clearly sends her the message – “we were doing just fine on our own.”  And that’s not fair to Kara.  From the sounds of it, the producers wanted a fourth judge, and Kara was picked.  It’s not her fault there’s now less time for the other judges to say the same five phrases every week. 

Lastly, and most surprising: “Kara’s addition was Idol’s way of preparing for Paula’s departure. The producers were trying to do a transition that wouldn’t be too jarring for the audience — but they didn’t think through the logistics,” someone close to the show reveals.”

Paula’s distaste for Kara is nothing new, and now we finally find out why.  Or at least, I do.  Paula’s contract is almost up, and instead of going quietly, she’s trying to get another one.  So it’s not just an imagined threat from Kara – that threat is very real (My advice to Paula to keep her job?  Cover up the puppies every week – which were popping out at most recent results show – and you should be fine) . 

I don’t know if this is just me, but there hasn’t been a clear-cut reason for adding Kara until now.  Oh, sure, there were plenty of rumors.  I actually thought she was a replacement for Cowell, who expressed interest in leaving the show once his contract was up.  But bringing her in as Paula 2.0 - now with better speaking ability - makes more sense.  If they were to successfully replace Cowell,   they’d need another snarky British guy.  American Idol without an insulting judge is just boring…well, even more boring than it is now.

As for me, I don’t care one way or another.  It’s not like I actually respect what the judges say about the constestants.  To me they’re just entertainment, like counting the number of awkward moments Ryan creates for himself.  The only reason I don’t love the idea of a fouth judge is because now there’s that much more we have to hear of useless judge talk during the show.  I don’t love Kara, but I don’t hate her either, though she seems about as full of herself as Cowell.  She’s just there.

‘Til next time.