paula abdul (39 posts)

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Extreme Paula Abdul fan Paula Goodspeed’s autopsy has been conducted, but the official verdict on her cause of death is going wait.

"We are doing toxicology," Lt. Cheryl MacWillie of the Los Angeles coroner’s office tells E! News. “It will take six to eight weeks.”

Although Goodspeed’s brother said Thursday that the body of the former American Idol auditioner would be released to the family Saturday and flown home to Maine for burial, MacWillie says the remains are still with the coroner.  “The body is ready to be released," said MacWillie, "but the legal next of kin [still] has to make arrangements with a mortuary."

Goodspeed’s body was found in her car near Abdul’s home last Tuesday night. Police suspect it was a suicide.

Sources have told E! News that Goodspeed had, just months ago, tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills, also in a car parked on Abdul's street.

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The family of Paula Goodspeed is coming to her defense following her apparent suicide outside Paula Abdul's home earlier this week.

"She was not a stalker," Charles McIntyre, Goodspeed's only brother, told E! News Thursday.

McIntyre, who lives with his family in Oakland, Maine, said his sister moved to California five years ago with only one dream: to be a star. "She went down there to have a career, and when she went down in front of those American Idol judges, it was over," said McIntyre. "She was just like anyone else, trying to make it big as an actor or singer."

McIntyre said their mother and Goodspeed's boyfriend are in L.A. waiting for the body to be released from the coroner's on Saturday. The funeral will take place in Maine.

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The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office has identified onetime American Idol contestant Paula Goodspeed as the female fan found dead in front of Paula Abdul's home Tuesday evening. E! News has exclusively learned the tragic incident was not Goodspeed's first attempt at reencountering the TV judge.

Sources say the 30-year-old Goodspeed had been obsessed with Abdul for the past 17 years. Her fixation led her to twice auditioning to appear on American Idol, including her now-infamous, Simon Cowell-maligned 2005 audition in Austin.

Goodspeed's death Tuesday night, which police suspect was a suicide, was not her first house call to Abdul's Sherman Oaks abode.

Sources tell E! News that two or three months ago, Goodspeed tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills outside the residence.

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A woman described as being obsessed with Paula Abdul has been found dead after apparently killing herself in a car parked outside the American Idol judge's hillside home.

"I am deeply shocked and saddened by what transpired yesterday," Abdul told E! News. "My heart and prayers go out to her family."

The county coroner has identified the victim as 30-year-old Paula Goodspeed, a fifth-season Idol auditioner with a long fixation on the "Forever Your Girl" singer.

"She has a history of mental illness," said Capt. Ross Bonfiglio of the Ventura County Sheriff's Dept.

While poilce say the cause of death appears to be a suicide, the official pronouncement won't be made for several weeks, pending the outcome of toxicology tests.

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Paula Abdul remains firmly rooted in Jennifer Hudson's corner, now so more than ever.

"This is a horrific tragedy, and my thoughts and prayers go out to Jennifer and her entire family," the American Idol judge, who has also reached out to the Idol contestant turned Oscar winner personally, said Monday in light of the slayings of Hudson's mother, brother and nephew.

"The time I had to get to know Jennifer and forge a wonderful friendship with her while she was on Idol was very special to me, and I personally can't imagine a greater loss for any family."

Speaking to Extra from London, Simon Cowell said, "I was horrified when I heard the news. This is an appalling tragedy. My thoughts right now are with Jennifer, and her family."

Hudson had multiple engagements lined up this week to promote her new album and her latest film, The Secret Life of Bees—all of which were immediately canceled Friday as her family tragedy unfolded.

Meanwhile, the Dreamgirls stage has also gone dark under these nightmarish circumstances.

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Paula Abdul is back on the market.

Abdul's publicist, Jeffrey Ballard, confirms exclusively to E! News that Abdul and her boyfriend, restauranteur J.T. Torregiani, have been not together for at least two months.

"They broke up months ago," Ballard says, adding that the couple, who moved in together last year, are no longer cohabitating. E! News has learned that J.T. is now living with a friend in the Hollywood Hills.

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Don't miss one song—or one note of British sarcasm—with our performance-show liveblog:

Three finalists, three songs apiece—you do the math. Now we find out what exactly the judges are thinking when they inform an ambitious contestant he or she has chosen the wrong tune, and it's always fun to have an endless songbook to choose from to up the surprise factor.

Some are surprised Syesha is still here, others think David A.'s had it in the bag all along, while David C. continues to do his thing, be it authentic or a bit...similar from week to week.

We start off with the mayor of David Archuleta's hometown informing him that Paula has picked Billy Joel's 1983 ballad "And So It Goes"...

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Don't miss one song—or one note of British sarcasm—with our performance-show liveblog:

Love 'em or hate 'em, this is your season-seven top four, and tonight the lucky ducks will dip into the 500-strong list of songs designated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the tunes that shaped the face of rock 'n' roll as we know it today.

David Archuleta and his Top 40 proclivities, Jason Castro and his indie-rock friendly vibe, David Cook with his KROQ-ready rasp and Syesha Mercado and her Mariah-Whitney-Broadway aspirations have one heck of a songbook to choose from. But the finalists also have to contend with the fact that millions of viewers will know exactly how each of these beloved songs is supposed to sound, and each one is going to have to do something vocally special to distinguish him or herself from the pack.

Then again, this is American Idol. So, getting Simon's seal of approval, picking a culturally vital song or being David Archuleta helps, too.

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Now only time will tell whether cute-as-a-button Ramiele Malubay is any match for teen dream David Archuleta, or whether Irish songstress Carly Smithson can compete with Aussie Michael Johns' heartthrob appeal, or if raspy Amanda Overmyer can out-rock David Cook.  

Those six, along with six others, were still living the dream Thursday after American Idol's seventh season had seated its top 12 finalists, as decided by more than 36 million votes. 

The journey ended for four aspiring stars, however, including Kady Malloy, 18, whom Simon Cowell compared to a Stepford Wife Wednesday after she belted out Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever" during a week devoted to music penned in the 1980s. 

While he was a fan of her backstage Britney impressions, Cowell never got behind Malloy as a personality, although he agreed with his fellow judges that the Houston native's performance was one of her better ones since the live portion of the season kicked off a few weeks ago. 

Next to go was the handsome yet vocally sketchy Luke Menard, who wailed Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" on Tuesday. 

"A bit girly," Simon said, making it three weeks in a row he had dissed the 29-year-old carpet cleaner from Crawfordsville, Indiana. 

Paula Abdul put a more positive spin on Menard's future prospects, however, upon his dismissal. "This is the first day of the rest of your career and life," she said. "You will see. You're a brilliant singer, and I wish you nothing but success." 

Also out was Asia'h Epperson, 19, who, as shown in her audition footage, tried out for Idol just days after her father had passed away, a circumstance reflected in her heartfelt a cappella rendition of "How Do I Live." 

But Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" proved to be too much for the 19-year-old waitress from Joplin, Missouri. 

Paula and Randy Jackson gave her props for the effort, noting what a massive vocal undertaking the tune was, but Simon called it "second-rate Whitney." 

And Danny Noriega was undone by his sassy reworking of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love." Although he impressed during the audition process, the 18-year-old from Azusa, California, never hit his stride after Hollywood week ended. 

But four had to go and now 12 remain. 

Joining Archuleta, 17; Cook, 25; Johns, 29; Malubay, 20; Overmyer, 23; and Smithson, 24; are Jason Castro, 20; Kristy Lee Cook, 24; Chikezie Ezie, 22; David "So What If He Was a Stripper" Hernandez, 24; Syesha Mercado, 21; and Brooke White, 24. 

Among the standouts this week were David Cook's emo take on Lionel Richie's "Hello" (prompting an anecdote from Simon about running into Richie at Whole Foods: "I had carrots, he was buying cereal"); White's stripped-down version of Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield"; Johns staying true to the Simple Minds original on The Breakfast Club classic "Don't You (Forget About Me)"; and Overmyer channeling Joan Jett on "I Hate Myself for Loving You." 

Idol will return to its usual two-night format next week when the top 12 dip into the Beatles' songbook on Tuesday—the first time in show history the works of Lennon-McCartney have been legally accessible—and yet another young hopeful is eliminated come Wednesday.

Paula Abdul has her own touchdown in the works.

The American Idol judge is in talks to perform live during Super Bowl XLII next month in Arizona, her rep confirmed to E! News Thursday.

There's no word yet on whether Abdul's contribution to the festivities would be before or during the game, taking place Feb. 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, but if her latest project is any indication, she already has some showtime-worthy moves ready to go.

According to tvguide.com, which first reported the possible gig, the former Laker Girl is already in rehearsals for the music video for a duet between her and Randy Jackson, which will also be the first single off of Jackson's upcoming guest-heavy album, Music Club Vol. 1.

A source said that if the '90s-era pop superstar inks the Super Bowl deal, she'll likely incorporate the same choreography into her act.

Abdul has spent so much time in recent years being the balm for Simon's burns, it's easy to forget she was once a "Straight Up" singer. Or, actually, a Grammy-winning artist who has sold more than 50 million records.

Her last studio album was 1995's Head Over Heels, which sold 1.5 million copies but didn't make nearly as many people swoon as 1988's Forever Your Girl, which was certified platinum seven times over. 

If she heads to Arizona next month, Abdul would join a lineup that includes halftime-show headliner Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mary J. Blige and Maroon 5, who will be part of the NFL Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Concert Series leading up to the big day. More artists are expected to be added in coming weeks.

Abdul won't want for familiar faces, either. Ryan Seacrest will be interviewing some of the more high-profile football fans attendance in a specially set-up red carpet area during Fox's pregame show, and season-six American Idol champ Jordin Sparks, who's from Glendale, has been tapped to sing the national anthem.

Rosie O'Donnell's out with a new blog post and that can only mean one thing—someone's on her diss list.

And that someone is Paula Abdul.

The erstwhile Queen of Nice first noted the American Idol's oddball behavior during a segment of ABC's The View back in January; now, O'Donnell devoted her twisted poetics to Abdul's train wreck of a reality series, Bravo's Hey Paula!

right now
paula abdul would yell action
and the result would be
what we all see
there are times
u r so broken
fragile
pain filled
love less
desperate
raw
vulnerable
needy

hey paula
we cringe
at r selves
thru u

O'Donnell first began cringing publicly at Abdul after Idol premiered this season. During a day-after post-mortem of the Fox reality contest on The View, O'Donnell laid into Abdul and fellow judges Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell for mocking a contestant's physical appearance. Then O'Donnell suggested the "Straight Up" singer was "probably intoxicated."

"Paula was very thirsty last night. Did anyone else notice?" she quipped. "Every [camera] shot, that woman was sipping the 'Coca-Cola' in her cup. And towards the end of the show, one eye was wandering."

Calls to Abdul's Bravo reps seeking comment were not returned. But the 44-year-old Idol judge and long-ago Grammy winner has steadfastly denied that her sometimes strange behavior stems from drug or alcohol use, claiming instead that she suffers from a neurological disorder that causes chronic pain.

She has also stated that she was battling exhaustion while shooting Hey Paula, which contributed to her zoned-out antics.

O'Donnell, however, doesn't seem to believe Abdul, as she writes in her July 19 blog entry:

hey paula
should merge with INTERVENTION
like when the jetsons met the flintstones
that would b compelling tv

In message board posting on O'Donnell's site, one reader expressed concern about Abdul's health.

"I am sad whenever I watch Hey Paula. I am sadder when I see no one helping this woman," wrote a poster named Barbara. "Can you help her? Everyone else seems to think she is incoherent due to lack of sleep. I do not think this is so."

"I don't either," replied O'Donnell.