Paula Abdul: Don't call her crazy anymore

What has happened to “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul?

The judge known for being motherly and frequently crazy hardly resembles herself. Instead of her typically soft, meaningless answers, she’s actually started to offer criticism; instead of occasionally slipping into absolute weirdness, she’s been relatively calm and sedate.

Paula was best known as the “American Idol” judge who didn’t really do much judging at all.  Instead, she’d critique performances by offering as much positive praise as possible, leaving the substantive discussion of the contestants’ performances to her fellow judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.

Her comments in previous seasons mostly consisted of empty platitudes. “What I love about you is your spirit, you put everything into it,” she told Ace Young last season.

That has not been the case this year. Paula has actually offered real criticism, including of lovable/hateable contestant Sanjaya Malakar. She has not morphed into Simon Cowell, but she’s been vocal when talented singers go home before less-talented performers. For example, during a semi-final round, when viewers saved Antonella Barba and sent four others home instead, Paula said, “Truthfully, this is a singing competition. I don’t feel tonight reflects this.”

Later, on the night when Sanjaya wore his ponytail fauxhawk, Paula had some harsh words, saying that Sanjaya’s singing couldn’t match the entertainment value of his hair. “If you had the gumption, if you had the ability to totally go for it, it would fit the wackiness of the fauxhawk,” she said. She could have been more direct, of course, but this was a decided change.

Even more incredibly, Paula Abdul recently admitted that she is no longer capable of offering blind, unequivocal praise. “I just can’t say that they’re really good if they’re not. I just can’t anymore,” Paula confessed to Entertainment Weekly.

Who is this woman, and what has she done with the crazy person who used to occupy her chair at the “American Idol” judges table?

A whole new Paula?
Last season, a performance by Elliot Yamin left Paula Abdul bawling; she said random, crazy things during critiques such as “Simon said because one of them ate pizza and the other ate salad”; and Ryan Seacrest regularly accused her of being drunk. (She finally responded to that accusation this January, saying in multiple interviews that she’d never been drunk before, nor was she using drugs.)

Before season six began, all signs pointed to another season of entertainment courtesy of the former pop star. During multiple satellite interviews with local TV affiliates conducted on a single day, she swayed back and forth, giggling and dancing, and answered questions with often incomprehensible comments.

One of those, her interview with the Seattle FOX affiliate has now been viewed nearly three million times on YouTube; it’s that entertaining. At one point, Paula says, “Hey, you know what, it is what it is. And it was brilliant! You’re going to love that.” We did love that, although only because of the way she said it.

The network and Paula blamed “technical difficulties” with her audio feed, and FOX said she “forged ahead and decided to have fun with the increasingly challenging situation.” But St. Petersburg Times critic Eric Deggans wrote that this wasn’t an aberration; during two in-person interviews with him, Paula “slurred her words, seemed to have a tough time following conversations around her and offered disjointed answers to simple questions,” he said, just like she did during the satellite interviews.

In other words, all signs pointed to a straight up, crazy cool train wreck occupying the seat between Randy and Simon for “American Idol 6.” While everyone hopes Paula is physically and mentally healthy, “American Idol” derives a lot of its entertainment value from its cast, and Paula’s wackiness is a big part of that.

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