Paula Abdul; leaving American Idol?

American Idol on Fox is one of, if not the most popular reality show on TV. It’s scheduled to air again in January 2010. American Idol had its ups and downs, but Season 8 was loaded with controversy.

Season 8 began with the report of Paula Goodspeed, an American Idol contestant, committing suicide. Paula Goodspeed apparently had been stalking Paula Abdul. It was reported in the Associated Press that Goodspeed had "ABL LV" on her license plate and a photo of Abdul, hanging from the rear-view mirror. Goodspeed was found dead from an apparent overdose close to Abduls residence in November, 2008.

Fourth Idol Judge enters the panel

Who is the woman who will be joining Simon, Randy, and Paula? Many fans thought that Kara DioGuardi would be replacing Abdul with the reported suicide of an "Abdul stalker" hovering over Paula's head. The season began and now there were four!

Everything was going fine and it appeared that Danny Gokey was going to be favored early on. Danny was a great singer who had lost his wife, just before the season began. Danny handled this well and because of this, his performances came from the heart.

During the auditions in San Francisco, a young man by the name of Adam Lambert appeared. He began by singing "Rock With You" by the late Michael Jackson. Adam sang the song well, but the judges wanted to hear more. Next Adam belted out one of Simon's favorites, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Adam received good marks but was tagged as being theatrical! Adam quickly advanced to the next round and soon became the favorite to win. After a few more weeks of "earth shattering" performances, Adam continued being controversial. He appeared on stage all dolled up with "black fingernail polish" and "guy liner," the Nay Sayers began to throw stones. Pictures of Adam began to surface from his theater days. Danny Gokey lovers began to label Adam Lambert as being "Gay!" Adam would never address this issue because he wanted to be judged by his singing alone.

Adam Lambert continued to shine week after week and then came the "Rat Pack" week and Adam was suddenly in the bottom three! This caused the Adam Lambert fans (the Glambert’s) to go into orbit! Everyone began to say that American Idol purposely placed Adam in the bottom three as a publicity stunt for ratings.

Adam quickly recovered with the next week being Rock Week. It was again assumed that Adam would come out as the winner of Season 8. The controversy continued because during part two of the Finale, Kris Allen, the "Dark Horse" was crowned! I almost swallowed my tongue when I heard the announcement!

Well, Season 8 was finally over, or was it? Early in August 2009 rumors began to spread that our lovely Paula Abdul was leaving the show! Paula, along with Simon Cowell helped to pioneer this hit TV show, American Idol. It went from one news media to the other, and it appears to be true. Paula Abdul is leaving! The question remains, will the show survive? Does anyone even care?

Please leave your comments below. Should Paula Abdul stay on as an American Idol judge?