For the past 48 hours, I’ve subsisted on a steady diet of Honey Bunches of Oats, Diet Dr. Pepper, and news and speculation about Paula Abdul. And while I’m planning an item about Paula’s five best pop songs for our Music Mix blog later this afternoon, I thought it might be fun for now to look back at some of Paula’s wildest, wackiest moments since returning to the spotlight with American Idol in 2002. Check out my six favorites, then head to the comments section and share your own! (And pick up this week’s issue of EW for more on Paula’s exit.)
Melon-Gate: During the season 5 semifinals, Paula’s advice to Kevin Covais and Jose “Sway” Penala took a turn for the absurd, ending with this memorable bit of free verse (which she credited to Simon Cowell): “The moth who finds the melon finds the cornflake always finds the melon—and one of you didn’t get the right fortune cookie.”
Promo-Gate: What should have been an innocuous promotional tour for American Idol’s sixth season turned into a full-blown media kerfuffle (yes, I said “kerfuffle”) when Abdul bobbed, weaved, giggled, and slurred her way through a truly bizarre interview with a Seattle Fox affiliate in January 2007. Abdul blamed a combination of exhaustion and earpiece issues for the incident.
Bratz-Gate: In 2007, Paula starred in, executive-produced, and wept her way through the low-rated Bravo celebreality series Hey Paula. One particularly memorable/nightmarish breakdown centered around her behind-the-scenes role on the big-screen production of Bratz.
Castro-Gate: At the midway point of season 7’s Neil Diamond night, Abdul gave a negative critique of two of Jason Castro’s numbers—even though at that point in the telecast he’d only performed once. (Whoops!) The “Straight Up” singer tried to cover her gaffe by saying she’d read her notes for David Cook, but then went on to call the latter singer “fantastic.”
Lip-Sync-Gate: Paula’s much-hyped 2009 performance of “I’m Just Here for the Music” during the season 8 finals was about as organic as a marshmallow Peep. Ultimately, her comeback single registered a mere 64,000 in digital sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Brüno-Gate: This summer’s controversial big-screen comedy finds Sacha Baron Cohen’s titular character inviting Abdul to a nearly empty Hollywood mansion to give her a bogus award. “Highlights” include “Brüno” convincing the befuddled Idol judge that in the absence of furniture, she must sit on the back of a middle-aged Mexican gardener positioned uncomfortably on all fours.
More on ‘Paula Abdul’:
Paula’s Idol exit: What does it mean to you?
Hear what Ryan, Randy, and former Idol contestants have to say about Paula’s exit
The poetry of Paula Abdul
Photo credit: Ray Mickshaw/Fox
Comments (1-15) of 39 Add your comment
Who would have thought that reality tv would become such a mainstay of today’s entertainment options? And as each show begets another, one of the first was AI and it remains strong. The lines between celebrities and average joes has been blurred as everyone today seems to have the potential for his 15 minutes of fame. I’m not sure what this says about our society.
Except there is a definitely difference between general Reality Shows (Jon & Kate, Meet the Kardashians…) and Reality Competition Shows (Idol, Amazing Race).
Was she still relevant, or was she relevant because she was on ‘American Idol?”
I won’t be watching Idol anymore. I dont care for Kara. I enjoyed the relationship between Simon and Paula.Last year Idol really turned me off with how they overpraised some contestants and if I just couldnt hear Kara say sweetie one more time. I didnt think it was cute! The rappor between the originol three is what made it special. They will lose viewers over this. They should have givin Paula some respect, after all she did help with the success. I dont think I like AI at all now. I’ve lost respect for them!
You have said everything I could possibly have said. Anyways, I love all of the attention this is getting; we’re talking about her as though she’s dead!
I was JUST thinking the same thing…
But aren’t the contestants the most important part of the show? I watched season 8 to see Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta. The “Three Stooges” could have been the judges, and I would have watched anyway just to see the contestants. (And actually, at times it did seem like the “Three Stooges + 1″ were judging season 8!)
I love your use of the word “kerfuffle.” It’s a good word… I may have to use it one day. Oh and I agree 150% with Sydney…well said.
The comments on Idol are next to useless unless they’re fawning praise, because as soon as someone starts to give a critique, Paula talks over them or the audience boos.
oh come oh, people who say they’re not going to watch the show cuz Paula is gone are liars! Just watch it and shush up. You’ll grow to like Kara one day. I do admit that I am gonna miss Paula’s crazy sayings and metaphors. lol
My favorite Paula moment was when she told David Archuleta she wanted to squeeze his head off and hang it from her review mirror. The show won’t be the same without her antics!
haha I loved that part and I love David Archuletta
All I wanna say is that American Idol is gonna be dead without Paula Abdul. It’s gonna be a show like any other else. She helped the show to be a phenomenal success since Season 1. It was a perfect chemistry among Randy, Simon and Paula. It’s a loss, the show will start sinking, and it’s gonna be even worse than adding a fourth boring judge who made the show a lot longer and less interesting. Paula Abdul was a light for American Idol.
I love all these people who say they won’t watch AI without Paula. AI isn’t about Paula, it’s about the singers. Paula’s total airtime in each episode might be 5 or 6 minutes. Tops. It’ll be fine without her. If Simon left, that would be a bigger blow, but the show could still go on as it is ultimately the contestants who the fans watch to cheer on. They could replace ALL of the judges with Piers Morgan, Debbie Gibson and Quincy Jones and the show would STILL be highly rated because of the contestants. Heck, some people only watch the early rounds to see the wacky people, and turn it off when they get to Hollywood. AI will be fine, and people will still watch. Come January, people will turn in to see what it’s like without Paula and talk about it then, and 9 months from now people will be debating again if the right person won…and not about missing Paula.
I find myself torn on this. On one hand, I think she’s an idiot. Then again, I enjoyed watching the train wreck that is Paula Abdul.
A friend of mine did some work on “Hey Paula” and told me that they had so little footage that they could actually use that they had to scrap the final episode and turn it into a recap special. He said that everyone behind the scenes thought she was/is a complete tool.
Why is anyone surprised by this? When they introduced a 4th judge last year, I always assumed it was going to be Paula’s replacement if she did a good enough job. 4 judges was awkward… it needs to be 3.
Good golly, she’s not dead!
My absolute FAVORITE Paula-ism was the time she was advising a contestant to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity presented by being on American Idol: “It’s time to paint that door,” she said, “and that knob. And go through it.”
I will miss Paula – she is a large part of American Idol. But I won’t and say I won’t watch the show – I just love American Idol – and how a nobody becomes somebody.