Paula Abdul Announces American Idol Departure on Twitter

Are publicists being upstaged by their clients? Paula Abdul used Twitter tonight to break the news she is not returning to American Idol. From her Twitter account

With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL. I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all..Cont’d…:

Even Ryan Seacrest found out through Twitter and his blackberry:

about to go to sleep when I started seeing my blackberry blow up. I have read what u have read and I am shocked and saddened about paula

I really could care less about Paula leaving or Kara DioGuardi returning. The only judge with anything interesting to say in my view is Simon Cowell. Randy Jackson and Kara are more like furniture, they lack star quality and Kara’s personality is more than a tad grating to many.

That said, Paula was very popular and part of the show’s success. Unlike Kara and Randy, she has the glitz and the showmanship the show needs. And she and Simon had a good ying/yang chemistry. It seems to me American Idol wanted Paula out and they knew exactly what buttons to push to get her to make it her decision. It can’t be about money since Ryan Seacrest just got a hefty pay raise and Simon makes a fortune. We’ll see how big a blunder, if any, AI and Fox made when the show resumes.

Upset on American Idol: Kris Allen Wins

Adam Lambert and Kris Allen

It’s official. Kris Allen wins American Idol. His first comment: “Adam deserves it.” He sounds almost bummed. Adam is smiling and very congratulatory. Congratulations, Kris. To Adam: You’ll still be the biggest star of the show.

Final thought: Homophobic Christians took over the American Idol ballotbox, just like they’re trying to do in real life. Sorry, but I think it’s a plausible explanation. Also, 100 million votes but the lowest ratings ever for last night’s finale. Who’s voting besides the viewers and why? The Washington Post says you can expect these questions to be batted around the water cooler tomorrow.

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The two-hour finale has just begun. I thought it was just the pre-teen, text-message obsessed crowd that might create an upset on American Idol tonight, resulting in Kris Allen beating Adam Lambert. But, there may be a religious factor and he may pick up a big chunk of the Danny Gokey vote:

[Kris] Allen is a married college student and has worked as a church worship leader. Gokey, a widower, is a church music director.

To Kris’ credit,

Allen said Monday that he hoped the outcome isn’t decided by “having the Christian vote.” “I hope it has to do with your talent and the performance that you give and the package that you have. It’s not about religion and all that kind of stuff,” he said.

In any event, it’s going to be a close one.

Lots of performances: Lionel Richie, Carlos Santana, Cindi Lauper, Queen Latifah, Black Eyed Peas, Keith Urban, the reigning American Idol David Cook and season 4 winner Carrie Underwood.

Even the New York Times is live-blogging the finale. I’ll be watching and updating below. Continue reading

American Idol: Adam and Kris’ Final Face-Off

Adam Lambert
Chris Allen

Adam Lambert and Kris Allen sing three final songs tonight. The winner will be chosen tomorrow.

Adam should win, but with the pre-teen, text-message obsessed crowd going for Kris, nothing is for certain.

I’ll update as the show progresses or after it.

Update: Adam blasts it out of the park with Sam Cook’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” He was just amazing. And all four judges lapped it up. While they also loved Kris’ first song, they weren’t anywhere near as blown away as they were by Adam. But, when Paula says, “No matter what happens tonight…” you can tell they too can’t predict the teeny bopper vote. Continue reading