American Idol will never be the same without congenial Paula Abdul sitting next to Simon, joking with him -- and finding something nice to say to every contestant, even if it is only that he or she looks great that night. But after weeks of speculation, Abdul still has no renewal contract -- and her manager is saying that she may not be returning to the show.
"Very sadly, it does not appear that she's (Paula) going to be back on Idol," David Sonenberg, Abdul's manager, reported according to Los Angeles Times.
Sonenberg at nearly midnight on Friday reported to the Times that he had "reached out to the head of business affairs at 19," and they told Fox that "Paula would love to be on the show." The response from Fox, he said, was that he would hear from them, but "I have not received any proposal whatsoever."
While next season American Idol shows will not air until January, auditions are scheduled to begin on Aug. 6th, less than three weeks away -- and Sonenberg revealed that he does not even have a proposal for a new contract from FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment.
"I find it, under these circumstances, particularly unusual -- I think unnecessarily hurtful," he had explained earlier in discussing the absence of active negotiations, according to the Times. "I find it kind of unconscionable an certainly rude and disrespectful that they haven't stepped up and said what they want to do."
Complicating the situation for Abdul is the fact that the show added a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, last season. There has been some speculation that DioGuardi was brought onto the show as a possible replacement for Abdul -- or that her presence was a warning to Abdul that she should temper her contract demands when it was time to renews. Both Abdul and DioGuardi have said that they would like to return to the show.
"She's not a happy camper as a result of what's going on," said Sonenberg. "She's hurt. She's angry. I think at this point we're going to be considering everything, including some kind of a competition show. She has tremendous ideas for a whole variety of shows."
Host Ryan Seacrest has a new $45 million contract that will keep him on the show for another three years. Randy Jackson's contract runs through 2011. Simon Cowell has been in contract renewal talks for weeks, but no agreement has been reported to date. And the show has also not announced a renewal with DioGuardi who reported had a one-year contract.
Paula Abdul's manager: She'll leave 'Idol' if rude producers don't step up new deal Sphere: Related Content
No comments:
Post a Comment