Posted this in the
American Idol the show - Media and Discussion thread but thought it should have it's own place as well. Kara DiGuardio has signed on for another year while Paula Abdul has decided to leave the show. Auditions for Season 9 begin Thursday, August 6th.
August 4, 2009, 11:16 pm
Paula Abdul Says She Will Leave ‘American Idol’
By Brian Stelter AND Edward Wyatt
After weeks of negotiations with the producers of “American Idol,” Paula Abdul said Tuesday evening that she was leaving the top-rated singing competition.
“With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL,” Ms. Adbul wrote on Twitter.
“I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent,” she wrote, “but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon.”
Fox had no immediate comment.
Her apparent decision came one day after Fox said Kara DioGuardi would return as a judge next season. The show is preparing for the first appearance, later this month, of potential contestants for the show’s ninth season before the judging panel.
Ms. Abdul’s contract expired at the end of last season, and she had been negotiating for a substantial raise from the estimated $2 million that she earned last year.
Ms. Abdul had said that she wanted to return to the show, and Fox Broadcasting and the show’s producers had said they want her back. Last week on Twitter she had written, “I hope you can understand I can only return to Idol if the deal is fair.”
nytimes.com