Kara DioGuardi to be Fourth American Idol Judge

Kara DioGuardi will join Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson, as a judge when the eighth season of American Idol premieres in January. Mike Darnell, president, alternative programming of Fox, said:

"For the past seven seasons, Paula has had to endure the experience of being the only woman at the judges’ table."

Paula just had surgery on her neck to try to get rid of the pain. Looks like she might need more pain killers, which means her loopy behavior on Idol might require some time off from Idol this coming season. Kara will make a good replacement for Paula if she is unable to fulfill her contractual requirements.

John Rich Slams Paula Abdul

John Rich, who is a judge on the upcoming show Nashville Star, had a slightly different view of Paula Abdul’s difficulty doing her judging job on American Idol this week. Rich said:

"When Paula made a comment on a performance that didn’t just happen, I put myself in the place of that artist [Jason Castro], and what they may feel, the humiliation of that. The lack of respect is terrible. If you’re not any more serious about it than that, get another job! Let somebody that cares judge it."

AMEN!

Rich had harsh words for the show American Idol itself too:

"American Idol infuriates me. They’re being fake about it. I’m not surprised their ratings are in the toilet."

To make it clear this wasn’t any sort of rivalry talking Rich said:

"I’m actually friends with Randy Jackson."

This sounds like something Simon Cowell would say if he wasn’t a judge on American Idol.

Paula Abdul is so Misunderstood

Paula Abdul would not give us a comment about her judging difficulties this week on American Idol, but she had a lot of to say at the Lupus Orange Ball in Los Angeles. Paula said while presenting an award to prominent L.A. physician Daniel Wallace:

“No one understands me. By the way, are you singing two songs tonight?”

“Dr. Wallace helped save my business and my professional life,” but she jokingly asked for some assistance with her American Idol duties. “By the way, they’re causing me to say very mumbly-jumbly things on Idol. Help me.”

“I have fun poking fun at a situation that’s so ridiculous. I’m the queen of taking the seriousness out of it. I loved that people laughed, it was funny,” she said. “Honestly, it was a silly thing that happened on Idol. We were all confused. I did exactly what the producers told me to do … It’s all good.”

Paula is poking so much fun at the situation she hired a law firm to force TMZ to issue an apology for a story they ran.

But not everything is “all good” with the Idol judge. Abdul told the crowd that she’s living in pain despite appearing happy.

“Pain is very daunting, it creates isolation. For me, the smile on my face oftentimes is not met with how I feel inside.” She credited Wallace as “emotionally gi-normous” and “an amazing person that keeps me going even when I don’t want to.”

What kinds of prescriptions does the good doctor provide? Do any of them treat pain? Reports have said Paula has Lupus, which is similar to arthritis, except it can cause inflammation anywhere in the body, and can result in a lot of pain. To treat the condition, non-narcotic anti-inflammatory medications are given. If Paula were more forthcoming about her alleged condition, and the medications she allegedly uses to treat that condition, she might find people would be more understanding, and less likely to judge her difficulty handling her judging duties. However, if Paula is taking medication, and if it is interfering with Paula’s ability to do her job, then people might want her to be replaced on American Idol with someone who can do the job. John Rich appears to have a similar opinion.

Help us understand you Paula. Help us help you.

What Would Barack Obama Do?

Barack Obama made a special appearance on David Letterman to present the Top Ten Surprising Facts about Barack Obama, and he actually smiled.

NOT SURPRISINGLY the Top Ten again mentioned Paula Abdul. Click here to see the Top Ten Reasons Paula Abdul Needs a Vacation.

Paula Abdul Is Not Leaving Idol - Yet

After Paula Abdul’s difficulty with her American Idol judging duties the other day, some have actually been voicing their opinion that Paula needs to be replaced. This isn’t the first time.

Cecile Frot-Coutaz, he FremantleMedia North America CEO, said:

"I love that everyone was talking about it," she told The Associated Press over lunch in her office two days after the show. "It was so unexpected. It was something that took up 2 seconds of airtime. You’d think there was no other news on television."

Abdul’s strange behavior has been documented over the past year, so it’s not "unexpected," and neither is the attention it has attracted.

The renewed calls for Abdul to be replaced comes as American Idol ratings have been slipping. Frot-Coutaz said in response to the ratings slip:

"Nobody’s alarmed by the ratings dip. We’re still 7 million viewers ahead of the second-biggest show. And let’s face it. TV has taken a huge decline this year. All the networks are down by quite a bit. I think the writers strike really hurt. A lot of viewers haven’t come back. You can’t just look at an isolation in the environment."

Abdul’s odd behavior has actually drawn attention to the show. Every controversy can help, but it seems some have the opinion that Abdul is simply hurting the show more than she is helping. Alluding to the possibility that Abdul might be replaced Frot-Coutaz said:

Addressing rumors about potential changes for season eight, Frot-Coutaz said adjustments may be made to evolve the show, but insisted there are no plans to rework or remove the audition episodes that have started each season. And - besides Abdul - there’s also no plan to replace Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell or Ryan Seacrest.

Randy, Simon, and Ryan are safe. Abdul on the other hand, she’ll probably blame TMZ if she gets replaced.

Who would you like to see replace Paula?