Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Paula Abdul, leaving American Idol?

Say it isn’t so. At least not if the alternative is Kara DioGuardi.

The Internet has been buzzing with talk of Paula leaving Idol since Saturday. The speculation all stems from this story from the Los Angeles Times in which Paula’s manager says it doesn’t appear she’ll be returning to the show.

After all, auditions start Aug. 6. (I presume he means auditions in front of the judges; open auditions started earlier this month.) And Paula doesn’t have a new contract.

Of course, from what I can tell, Kara doesn’t have a new contract either. Randy Jackson is signed through 2011; Simon through next season.

So, is this a negotiating ploy? Or has Idol really decided they don’t want Paula back?

If she’s leaving, she’ll be missed by fans, judging from tweets posted over the last couple of days. One of my favorites: “American Idol needs Paula Abdul. She dares to dance in the path of greatness.” A reference, of course, to one of her critiques from season eight.

And if she’s leaving, I’m sure she’ll be missed by the contestants. After all, regardless of how poorly a performance went, Paula always found something positive to say.

I interviewed Idol season eight semifinalist Felicia Barton on Thursday. The full interview will be posted later this week. Felicia said Paula was the only judge she got to see off camera.

“She came backstage the night that we performed and gave us all a gift from her jewelry line,” Felicia said. “She was just really, really sweet. I think out of all of them, she was one of my favorite people just because she really seemed to have a geniune desire to see us succeed. And I really appreciated that.”

Not to mention, Paula added unpredictability to the show, whether she was judging a performance that hadn’t happened yet or presenting Simon with crayons and a coloring book. Call it a goofy sort of charm.

I’ve yet to see any sign of that same charm from Kara.

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Paula might not be signed for season nine, but Idol host Ryan Seacrest isn’t going anywhere.

He got a new $45 million contract this week. You can read about it here.

Sounds like a lot of money to pay a host who doesn’t have to sing and doesn’t have to judge.

But to really appreciate what Ryan does, you have to watch Billy Ray Cyrus try to do the same thing on Nashville Star. Painful. Very painful.

And Ryan was just nominated for an Emmy, one of eight nominations American Idol received.