Fame is a fleeting and foul mistress. No one should know this better than our homegirl Paula Abdul. After all, the former Laker Girl enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top in the late 80’s and early 90’s with the help of a less than stellar singing voice accompanied by sassy choreography, an Arsenio Hall cameo, a Cartoon Kat, and a video in which she totally got down and deep with Keanu Reeves.
Despite reaching the pop of the charts Abdul all but disappeared from public view for the better part of seven years. When she finally emerged in 2002 as a judge on the brand new talent contest American Idol, like most viewers, we briefly wondered just what qualified Ms. Abdul to serve as the benevolent genie of pop star dreams. She quickly endeared herself to the viewing audience, however, with her penchant for medicated antics and her willingness to put up a fight with her callous British co-star and that guy who always says, “dawg.” Before we knew it we had welcomed her into our homes. She was that non-blood related lady we called “aunt” anyway who always encouraged us to do our best no matter how untalented we were.
But now, after eight seasons of welcoming her into our home, Ms. Abdul has slammed the screen door shut in our collective faces by announcing that there will never be another Clarkson, Guarini, grey-haired guy, Aiken, Studdard, girl who couldn’t read, or Carrie Underwood touched by her magic wand of talent evaluation. That’s right - Paula Abdul is leaving American Idol, and no amount of money (except for possibly $2 million more a year) will bring her back.
Paula, you will be missed. Good luck on continuing your music career…or enjoy the scenery in whichever black hole you may fall in this time around.
