Paula Abdul
News (Page 3)

In TV Guide’s July 9 cover story, the choreographer, dancer, singer and American Idol judge speaks out about her triumph over various trials in life, such as a highly publicized divorce (from actor Emilio Estevez) and ongoing eating disorder that once dropped her weight to a low of 83 pounds.

But Paula Abdul insists she's is a survivor.

“I’ve endured life journeys that people never in a million years would ever think of experiencing,” she says. “I have risen from the bowels of hell and come out tripping and singing and dancing. I’ve always been counted out, but I come back, like a stealth warrior.”

And with her new (critically lambasted) reality show, Hey Paula, Abdul hopes to set the record straight.

“What I do feel proud about myself is I don’t give up,” she says. “I’ve worked extremely hard to maintain the integrity and level of class and goodness that I have. I screw up just like everyone else. The difference with me is that I get to teach the rest of the world lessons, to learn how to bounce back a lot quicker.”

In the end, Paula's ego appears to rival that of Simon Cowell.

“Partially [I decided to do this show because of] the fact I know my life purpose: Having the uncanny ability to tap into the heartstrings of people and make them feel they’ll be OK. And that if I can get through these hard times, so can you,” she says.

And, lastly, what kind of boss is she?

“I wish I could work for someone like Paula Abdul. Honest to God, I am the kindest-of-kind human beings.”

A new reality show (Hey Paula) and a new man (JT Torregiani) aren't enough for Paula Abdul.

The American Idol judge will release her first perfume in the upcoming months. It's name? Sexy Thoughts.

"It's fun, it's flirty, it's chic," said Abdul. "It's sexy... It totally captures the spirit of who I am."

The singer, never one to be shy, also admitted she agreed to launch the perfume after spraying it on herself and asking those around her, who eventually gave the scent a positive review.

On starting the business and launching the fragrance, Abdul joked that she was looking for the right smell for Idol partner Simon Cowell.

"In the middle of coming up with my fragrance line, I asked the question, 'By any chance do you have anything that smells like cat pee, and cow poop and, like, farts?' I want to put those elements in a bottle, and call it Ode to Simonella. I 'm going to put it together and I'm going to surprise him next season, and douse it all over the chair."

The following is a review of Hey Paula from the Chicago Tribune...

And now for what not to watch: If you want to see a petulant, annoying Paula Abdul up close and personal, then Hey Paula (9 p.m. Thursdays, Bravo) is the show for you.

We suppose there could be a certain voyeuristic thrill in seeing that her bizarre behavior on American Idol continues behind closed doors and that she's not particularly fun to work for – but couldn't you have guessed that?

Though the episode Bravo sent for review was only a half-hour long, we quickly grew tired of the American Idol judge, who is cosseted around the clock by a team of publicists, assistants, stylists and sundry other hangers on. Oh, and she's also surrounded by a pack of teacup-sized dogs that she apparently finds adorable.

Not so adorable: The close-up shots of their, er, waste.

Would that this series were adorable in any way, but it promises only tiresome narcissism, something the entertainment world is not exactly lacking in.

Paula Abdul, who said Thursday she is "deeply hurt" that a phone call with her reps was leaked to the press, opened up to People magazie about how she's doing.

"Look at me, I'm okay, really I am," she said at an after-party for the Fragrance Foundation's FiFi Awards in New York City Thursday night.

"I'm doing just fine and don't have to explain myself to anyone. It hurts. The leak, that's illegal. That was a private conversation. That was a violation of my privacy and totally illegal."

The phone call was first reported by the New York Post's Page Six.

On the tape, she talks about having Addison's disease, an adrenal disorder that causes chronic fatigue, muscle weakness and irritability. Asked whether she has the illness, Abdul said: "I haven't been diagnosed with it. I'm just exhausted. Sometimes I have really low blood sugar levels. It's all because I work very hard, that's it."

In the call, Abdul also talks about her strained relationship with former publicist Howard Bragman. She would not comment to the publication about whether she was upset about her split with Bragman, but said: "I'm not happy about that phone call being leaked. That's illegal."

Finally, Abdul, who recently broke her nose when, her rep said, she tripped over her Chihuahua, had a message for concerned fans. "I love my fans," she said. "They mean so much to me. I'm doing fine. I'm a fighter."

Things are getting intense before tonight's American Idol season finale: Paula Abdul recently broker her nose.

No, the judge wasn't drunk. She simply took a tumble over the weekend as she tried to avoid trampling one of her pooches, her rep told E! News.

"She tripped to avoid stepping on Tulip, one of her Chihuahuas," the rep said. "She is fine. This will have no effect whatsoever on her appearance on American Idol tomorrow and Wednesday for the finale."

The rep added that Abdul was not hospitalized for her injury.

One of Simon Cowell's habits strikes people as rude, even for him: While American Idol hopefuls are singing their lungs out, he's often seen idly chatting with Paula Abdul.

"I'm taunting Paula throughout the performance," Cowell explains on Monday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "I'm saying to her, 'Try to say something interesting, try not to use the words mountain and lakes in your critiques because it's always: You'll climb mountains, you'll swim lakes, whatever.' "

So how can he judge the contestants if he's so busy bugging Abdul? "I'll tell you a secret," he says. "I watch the dress run so I actually hear much, much easier what they really do sound like."

As for his Idol picks, he goes with the favorites Jordin Sparks and Melinda Doolittle, but says, "I wouldn't write off Blake Lewis or LaKisha Jones.

Paula Abdul says she and Simon Cowell, who torments her on the set of American Idol, are chummy in real life.

"Simon and I actually get along great," the 44-year-old judge says in an interview in TV Guide magazine's March 19 issue. "We have cultivated a fun relationship. ... He's actually become a really good friend."

Were they at first attracted to one another, as Cowell has suggested?

"Oh, puh-leez! He makes this stuff up," Abdul says. "He said, 'Paula, people want us to hook up so bad.' I said, 'That's disgusting.' He goes, 'Paula, I know you want me,' and I go, 'Like a cold sore.' We have fun playing up the chemistry, but there's also times when I would cross the other side of the street so I wouldn't have to look at him."

In her five years on American Idol, Abdul has become a pop-culture punch line for her sometimes odd behavior, which has included slurred speech. Cowell, ever the troublemaker, is to blame, she says.

"He's caused me a lot of problems. ... In the middle of me trying to figure out how I'm going to say something that gives someone dignity walking off that stage, I've got the antagonistic brother goofing on me, trying to throw me off.

"Simon will do things that people have no idea about. ... When the camera isn't on me, (he) isn't watching the performance, he's poking and prodding me."

Sounds like a possible love connection to us. Someone better warn Terri Seymour!

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly for this revealing interview with American Idol judge, Paula Abdul.

PAULA ABDUL: I've never had so much bulls--- written about me in my entire career, 21 years in this business. Nobody, [including] my friends and my family, has seen me drinking, partying...EVER. I'm the squarest dork there is. I've worked my ass off my whole career. I challenge anybody, go look at any picture [of me] in my entire life and see if I'm [pretends to stumble] or even holding a drink.

Maybe somewhere I'm making a toast, but I've never been drunk in my whole life. I don't do recreational drugs. I have the hardest job — mid-sentence I have to think of what I'm going to say, [and] sometimes I have to talk fast because I don't want to be edited. I have to think about what I'm going to say because I might not particularly care for [a contestant's] performance. How [can I express this] so they leave with a little bit of dignity and grace?

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So you can sympathize with what Antonella's going though?
I can't imagine how it feels for someone who's not used to it. I do sympathize with [Antonella Barba]; I don't look at that crap. Today you remove people from pictures, you can move them around. [That's] the beauty of the Internet...you can put my head on any body. My head's been on bodies I wish I had! I'm saying I wish I looked like that...[but] it's not me. I close my eyes when I'm in front of a mirror. I don't look, I'm serious.

Now that you've seen the powerhouse of the girls this season, do you think it's a little unfair to have six guys and six girls?
I wish it was best of the bunch. We used to have best of the bunch the first two seasons. I understand producer-wise why they do [that]. The problem is, what if there were ten girls and two guys? It wouldn't make for that exciting of a show.

Who has surprised you in a good way?
Stephanie Edwards and Jordin Sparks. We lost Sabrina and Sundance, who I loved, it breaks my heart. Jordin being 17, she has probably the most natural self-assuredness [for someone so young]. Paris Bennett, Lisa Tucker, we have had great young kids, but there's something about Jordin that is older than her years. She's naturally gifted, she's not trained — she's an artist that I think could be around for a long time. I love Blake Lewis, I want him to follow his beatboxing with reckless abandon because that's his unique gift, and continue to work on his vocals.

So who's surprised you in a bad way?
I was openly shocked with Sundance leaving and I said, ''you are one of our most gifted singers.'' And I [also] said, ''[Sanjaya Malakar] no disrespect to you, congratulations to you.'' And for someone [like Sanjaya] at 17 to have such a smooth older-than-his-years tone...but experience-wise, vocally, there was no comparison [to Sundance]. But I understand how parents and young girls would love [Sanjaya].

How close was Paula Abdul to being replaced as an American Idol judge?

Very close ... according to the singer who says she was asked to replace Abdul.

"As far as American Idol goes, I was actually approached a couple of years ago about possibly replacing Paula Abdul" Belinda Carlisle recently said.

Though the founder of The Go-Go's wasn't a fan of the show's format - and therefore turned down the offer - such news just adds to the speculation surrounding Abdul's life-span on the show.

"To be perfectly honest, it's just not my thing. I'd rather listen to music that comes from a more organic place. But you know, I just ... don't know if I would or not" said Carlisle.

For the rest of this year, at least, you can bet Paula will be the one to judge such hopefuls as Melinda Doolittle.

The judges from American Idol invaded Jay Leno Monday night.

And while they certainly focused on season six of our favorite show, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest first focused on a certain, bald pop singer backstage with Terri Seymour (Simon's girlfriend) from Extra.

“Re-release ‘Hit Me Baby, One More Time,’” Simon suggested to Britney Spears.

“She needs a huge song,” Randy said, before Simon butted in with his two sense: “Big record; forget the shaving of the head!”

As for their own unpredictable co-star Paula Abdul, Simon said the press is making a big deal over nothing.

“She’s always been that way, I’ve never understood a word Paula has said,” Simon said.

But Paula chimed in: “I live a clean life, and the only thing I'm embarrassed about is hanging around you guys.

As far as Idol is concerned, the judges told Extra they just want to hear good singing; and that meant bad news for the 12 guys who performed last night.

“I think they’re lucky that there are groups of boys, groups of girls; otherwise we'd end up all girls in this competition,” Simon admitted.

Speaking of girls, the gang had this special message for their favorite Dreamgirl, Jennifer Hudson.

“We actually think you’re going to walk up there and accept an Oscar, so go get ‘em,” Ryan said.