Paula Abdul quits American Idol

It's been confirmed by both parties that Paula Abdul will not be returning as a judge on American Idol season 9. I can hardly believe it. It seemed to me that Paula brought something unique to the judging panel. When they brought in Kara DioGuardi last season there were speculations that it was a move to replaced Paula whose contract was coming to an end. The rumors were right.

I fail to see what Kara brings to the show that the other judges didn't already. She simply does not come across as a very likable person when she's on the show. I still can't forget some of the awful things she personally did to contestants last season. There was bikini girl in the finale. Yes I understand that many people don't feel sorry for her but please do people get outrage when Beyoncé uses her body to sell albums? No they don't. Think about. If she covered herself just a bit more you think she would have been as popular as she is now. How about Britney Spears?

But Kara did worse. There was this contestant who seemed like a nice girl. She wasn't a great singer though but she believed she could make it like many others. They interviewed her as she waited in line for a chance to audition for the judges. After she sang for them Kara literally laughed at her face. Calling her a joke. Because she was nominated the most humorous when she was in school Kara DioGuardi assumed she was only kidding when she auditioned for American Idol. Needless to say nobody found that funny. The contestant cried, she had just been humiliated on national television. Worse, Simon was the one with the nice words for her telling her "nicely" that she seems like a nice person but singing is not for her...

I wonder if Kara costs less than Paula?

I read a few reports suggesting that maybe Paula didn't want to come back because she had other things she wanted to do....

Watch the Paula Abdul vs Kara DioGuardi video below

@ Yahoo! Video

Miley Cyrus chat

If you want to chat with Miley Cyrus July 5 is the date you need to know. Miley will be answering questions starting at 7PM eastern time. She will be online and live and you can be part of it by letting her know your questions before the chat starts. The questions that receive the most votes will be selected for answering. The Miley Cyrus live chat July 5 is a must for all fans.

It's not really interactive as far as asking the questions but the answering of the questions will be live just like you expect a chat session to be. If you love Miley and Hannah Montana you should not let this opportunity pass you by.

Kris Allen wins American Idol season 8

While many people were surprised to see Kris Allen win American Idol, I wasn't, not that much. Of all the people who made it through the top 13 before the wild card, Kris Allen is the only one whose audition I hadn't seen. He even dared to sing Michael Jackson in the top 36 something that would have sent any "ordinary" contestant back home but not Kris Allen. From that very first surprise everybody following American Idol knew that they should keep a close eye on that kid.

He's come a long way since "Man in the Mirror". I remember last year finale when Simon Cowell was criticizing David Cook for not singing Billy Jean in the finale, he told Simon that the show was about growth and he didn't want to go back to something he did long before but instead he wanted to show that he had grown along the process and did knew songs. Frankly when he said that it was clear that he had the edge over David Archuleta who did re-sing Imagine in the finale. And David Cook won. If you go back to auditions, the top 36, the top 13 until the top 3 tell me which one do you think has "grown" the most Adam Lambert or Kris Allen. Adam has stayed practically the same he was when he entered the competition and his over exposure on the show and the constant lobbying by the judges didn't help. Simon was even impatient to have Adam crowned the American Idol. But Kris Allen over came all the major obstacles like the fact that before the top 13 most people didn't even know his name and even after that they only mentioned him for his niceness, like the fact that he helped out other contestants on Michael Jackson week. At no time he was favored to win this until he made it to the top 3 and sang Heartless then the judges started to doubt that it was a sealed deal for Adam but the Kris Allen's fans already knew by then that they could count on him to go all the way.

If you can remember some questions aimed at Kris, they were constantly asking him if he took the competition seriously, if he's in this to win it. The same questions they were asking Jason Castro during season 7, the judges, especially Simon Cowell never believed in him at least not until the very end.

I have to confess that I was extremely happy last night, once again the judges didn't have it their way and Kris Allen won the title he fought so hard for. Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and all the others were tough competition to overcome but he did it.

Congratulations Kristopher Neil Allen.

Here is a video of how fans gathered in Conway, Arkansas (Kris' hometown) reacted to the news.