Paula Abdul Gone: American Idol Still Looking For New Judge

by Annina Bergman | August 18, 2009 at 10:35 am

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American Idol will be judging judges in its next, ninth season. Since Paula Abdul left the show, Idol has invited a number of guest judges to help rate contestants, among them Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige and Kate Perry. Canada's Shania Twain will also be appearing on the Idol panel for its Chicago audition on August 30-31. Twain's last album Up came out in 2002.

Paula Abdul left the show just five days before it started filming auditions for the new season, as she did not get the pay raise she wanted. But American Idol does not want to rely on guest judges - they will be looking for a permanent replacement for Abdul. Rumors suggest Jessica Simpson's father has been pushing her for the position.

Season nine of American Idol will air in January 2010.

The search for the next “American Idol” will also include a search for a new fourth “Idol” judge. Peter Rice, the chairman for entertainment at Fox Broadcasting, told a meeting of the Television Critics Association today that the popular series will seek to replace Paula Abdul this season with a permanent fourth judge rather than return to a panel of three judges, as the show had before Kara DioGuardi joined the panel last season.