Yes, Paula Abdul is off 'Idol,' but who really cares?

PASADENA, Calif. — Yeah, so, Paula Abdul isn't returning to "American Idol."

Should we care? Does it matter?

I'm thinking the answer to both those questions is pretty much, um, no.

That's not a slam against Abdul. Really. There have been lots of reasons to slam her over the years. And, if I was her adviser, I would have told her to take the (reported) $10 million per season — because, now that she's off "Idol," her slide into oblivion has officially begun.

Since she Tweeted her decision to leave the show, Abdul's exit has been the Hollwood Tempest in a Teapot of the Moment — supplanting the equally unimportant "controversy" over pre-taping some of the upcoming Emmy Awards show.

For whatever reason, Abdul decided she didn't want to accept the "substantial raise" that she was offered. Fox executives expressed regret, but they're making plans to move on.

"We very much wanted her to return," said Peter Rice, chairman of Fox Entertainment. "In the past few weeks, the negotiation has sort of come to a conclusion. We made an offer that we feel was very fair to Paula ... and Paula has decided not to return. So, as I said, that's something that was not our choice. It wasn't what we wanted to happen. We wanted Paula to come back to the show."

Abdul was the only judge whose contract was up after last season. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi will all return. As will a series of guest judges — including Katy Perry and Victoria Beckham — until Fox and the producers figure out what to do next.

"Our intention is to have the guest judges be female pop stars, female performers, female artists," Rice said. "And between now and January, we will come up with a more permanent solution on what we'll do."

While there has been some question of whether this is just another negotiating ploy by Abdul, Fox execs insist that's not the case. "We've concluded the negotiation, and Paula has announced she will not be coming back," Rice said.

The fact is that Abdul was a has-been whose career was quickly going nowhere when she signed on as one of the "Idol" judges. And there was no small amount of irony in the fact that Abdul, whose vocal talents are limited at best, was critiquing the vocal talents of others.

There's also no question that part of her appeal to viewers is what can only be called The Crazy Factor — her often decidedly odd behavior (both on and off the air) made people want to tune in to see what she'd do next.

"I think that the better chemistry on the panel is to have somebody who we cast who interacts with Simon and with Randy and with Kara and makes it really fun and really entertaining," Reilly said.

"And it sounds trite, but it is ultimately about the contestants."