Paula Abdul is rumoured to be leaving American Idol to launch her own Las Vegas stage show.

The choreographer is said to think that the time is right to leave the US talent show so she can work on the live show which has a Cirque-Du Soleil/cheerleader theme.

“She’s secretly putting together an exit strategy. No one knows whether Paula will be back for another season of Idol after this one, but she’s preparing for the future and she sees her future in Las Vegas,” a source told the National Enquirer.

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Simon Cowell’s  brother has told the Mirror that his brother rejected scripted put downs on the set of American Idol.

Tony Cowell told the newspaper that his brother threw the scripts in the bin as he is naturally quick witted and had no need for them.

"American producers tried to script his put-downs but Simon put them in the bin," Tony explained. "They assumed he rehearsed everything but that’s not the case. He’s a very confident, naturally witty guy."

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American Idol judge, Paula Abdul is reportedly fuming after finding out that fellow judge, Simon Cowell earns a whopping £20.5 million salary from the show whilst she is paid only £2.5 million per year.

Metro reports:

"Paula knew Simon was getting paid more but she never imagined it was this much more," said a source.

"She has a lot of concerns. It’s ridiculously obvious she’s getting pennies compared with Simon."

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Former American Idol runner up, Clay Aiken has admitted that he was gay…..it wasn’t much of a shock!!

Aiken appears on the cover of the latest issue of People magazine, holding his son Parker Foster, accompanied by the headline: “Yes, I’m Gay.”

He is also quoted by the magazine as saying: “I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things.”

Fox have announced today that this series of American Idol will see a more balanced judging panel as the show welcomes another female judge in the form of songwriter/music producer Kara DioGuardi.

DioGuardi has previously penned songs for singers like Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Santana and Pink.

“We are turning the heat up on`Idol’ this year and are thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges’ table,” said creator and executive producer Simon Fuller in a statement. “She is a smart, sassy lady, and one of America’s most successful songwriters. We know she will bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show.” Read more & comment »

Nigel Lythgoe has announced that he will be stepping down as executive producer of American Idol.

Nigel has been at the helm of the show for all its seven series, but has decided to stand down so he can concentrate on his other show, ‘So You Think You Cna Dance.’

“Due to the huge success of Dance, my summer will be taken up by travels to South Africa, Australia and Canada to work on local versions of the show,” Lythgoe explained in a statement. “I will step back from my day-to-day producing work on American Idol and will be devoting my time to a new venture with Simon Fuller.” Read more & comment »

American Idol producer, Nigel Lythgoe, has revealed that he plans to change very little about next years series of American Idol.

All three of the current judges (Randy, Paula and Simon) have signed up for the 2009 series.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Nigel commented: “We are going to keep the idea of being able to play instruments. We really liked that.”

Nigel also revealed that he was not surprised when David Cook scooped this years AI title. Read more & comment »

Almost a year ago Simon, Paula and Randy began their search to find the seventh American Idol. Months later and the grand finale is here! This year over a million contestants applied to go the show and amongst them were some of the strongest singers ever seen on the show before, now all that remain are the two finalists. On the 22nd May at 8pm on ITV2 the duo will give their last performances of the series. Then on the 23rd May at 9pm all will be revealed in a spectacular results show when we find out who will be crowned the sixth American Idol. Read more & comment »

Music moghul, Andrew Lloyd Webber, is jetting back to the States next week for the grand finale of American Idol.

Andrew mentored on the show just a few weeks ago and was a masive hit, drawing 24 million viewers.

He will be back in time for Saturdays I’d Do Anything show on BBC One, and is also said to be in talks with Simon Cowell about a joint reality TV collaboration.

American Idol judge, Simon Cowell has revealed that he intends to drop the age limit for American Idol in the near future.

Speaking to girlfriend Teri Seymour on US show Extra, he said: “All these shows, including Idol, in the future are going to have to go younger. We’re going to have to drop the age from 16 to 14 soon.”

Simon also encouraged contestants to turn on the waterworks, saying: Read more & comment »