I say dump her. I’d like to see a Kara, Simon, Randy judging anyway. Has d.b cooper said someone needs to to counterbalance Simon’s mindgames and manipulations. And maybe challenge him to give better critique next year, and not just phone it in. Paula and Randy certainly aren’t up to it. I think Kara would be.

The only thing about the judges is obvious favoritism, but I dunno if they’re doing that or if TPTB do that. No more Adam/Danny stuff, let the fans of the show decide that. I’d say you can have favorites, but try not to make it blatant (i.e. Danny’s A for effort on Dream On or the OTT praise of Adam). It’s like they were scared to point out flaws in those two (Face it, even Adam isn’t perfect).

Although I think they did play a part in Kris winning (Kris was my favorite, so I really loved that), I still think they should give equal appreciation to everyone else. Kris and Allison seemed like they were working much harder than the others at times yet they got reamed quite a bit. The other thing I hate is how they compare people to other contestants or occasionally other people who are more their type. I don’t want them to say who’s better than who (Mostly Simon comparing contestants but Randy comparing to other artists), I want them to judge on what they did.

I’d like to see three judges, but because of time, not chemistry. l would be fine if Paula is gone. She says a bunch of incoherent nonsense most of the time and jacks around with Simon. Doesn’t add nearly as much to the show as, say, Randy for me for you for me.

Maybe I’m odd in that I watch the show for the contestants and not the judges, but as long as there’s a new crop of talented singers (with, obviously, some horrible freakshows mixed in) I’ll watch as usual.

There’s no way to justify paying Seacrest 6 or 8 times the salary of Paula Abdul.

He does about 8 times more work than her, so I think it could be justified.

That report, assuming it’s straight and not a negotiation ploy, doesn’t sound good at all to me. At best, it sounds like TPTB are trying to low ball Paula at the last possible minute after making her feel as though they may not make an offer at all. Sads.

I too like Kara this season.

I like Paula, she’s funny and likable and keeps things interesting. And last season she made a lot more sense than the gratingly pompous Kara.

Ditch Kara I say, and keep the QVC queen.

i disagree. i want idol to keep kara. she’s the only judge who is involved with anything relevant! randy is the expendable one.

I really would like to see Randy leave. He has a career, such as producing Brooke’s album. He doesn’t need Idol, and I don’t think he’d be missed that much after a few weeks.

Paula will sign as she needs Idol. I haven’t forgtten the Jason incident but she was a little bit better last season.

Kara could become an asset on the show if she doesn’t follow the scripted moments. For the most part, I liked her comments.

Simon is Simon. Hopefully, not so bored this year.

I just want someone to counterbalance Simon’s mindgames and manipulations, none of the other three judges can do that. Fremantle should find someone with a spine, integrity, and credibility.

Hmmmm, I actually think Kara has the ability to do this. Anyone coming into the trio of Simon, Paula and Randy is going to struggle. They have to know how to play the game and tippy toe around this established judges panel.

Now that Kara has a season behind her, a season in which she showed great potential, imo, she can come out slinging next yr. Put Simon in his place-so to speak.

Hopefully Simon’s huge salary will help with his boredom(not likely), and the judges can go on being….judges, not stars.

Just don’t make Kara write anymore songs and we’ll be fine.

If she resorts to this sort of nonsense to get more money they should drop her

Simon did the nearly the same with his wining about how busy is with his British shows and don’t know if he continue with Idol.

My feeling is that, sure, Simon and Paula have nice chemistry, but her opinion holds little weight with most viewers. Good for a sitcom, not so much for Idol

Even if I would love if it would not this way, but this is partly an element, why Idol works so well.
A part of the audience want it this way. They want just to have a little fun and not something to deep.

I just want someone to counterbalance Simon’s mindgames and manipulations, none of the other three judges can do that. Fremantle should find someone with a spine, integrity, and credibility.

After last season even Simon seems to play after the script to an extend I was very disappointed, there is no chance this could happen.