But What Will We Do Without Paula?

As I've explained before, I don't watch American Idol. I usually end up seeing a couple of the audition episodes each season and then quit -- so consistently, in fact, that I've never seen a non-audition episode. It's just that reality competitions in general are a phenomenon I can easily live without. Very, very easily.

And yet I'm intrigued by Paula Abdul's announcement that she'll be leaving the show. For the following reasons:

-It happened after only one season of adding fourth judge Kara Dioguardi. And thus history will consider Dioguardi to be Abdul's de facto replacement, even though it supposedly wasn't supposed to be like that.

-I'm really, really curious how this will affect the show's ratings. Idol has been sliding for a few years, but the decline has been relatively soft. My guess is, the show will open just as strong as it always does in the upcoming season, but will lose viewers faster.

-Paula's an amusing tabloid presence, so it'll be interesting to see what she does next.

A while ago, I guess Simon Cowell said he wouldn't do the show without Paula, but don't be worried about that for a second. At the end of the first season, he said he would only do the show for one more year.

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