Could season 8 of American Idol be Paula Abdul’s last? Well according to OK Magaine Paula is planning her exit.

According to a source close to the reality judge, Paula, 45, who has been with the show for seven years, is developing new TV projects and is hoping to “transition” out of the Fox hit.

With her fellow judge,  Randy Jackson, telling friends that American Idol has lost its magic, another Paula insider explains, “She knows that every season could be her last. Now she’s got a new secret venture that she’s really excited about.”

After years of wanting Paula off the show, I would now miss her if she was gone because you never know what she is going to bring the Judges’ table. Now when it comes to Randy Jackson and the new chick, if they left I wouldn’t care. Dog.

BTW I am not sure if OK! got the information before the incident happened with Paula’s fan, but I think that would make her want to leave more than she alredy did. 

(source)

• Extreme fan found dead near Paula Abduls house
• PAULA ABDUL IS ALL SMILES IN HOLLYWOOD

A woman, who was according to her mom is a big fan of Paula Abdul’s was found dead of a suspected overdose near Paula Abdul’s house yesterday according to KTTV. The woman’s mother reported her missing and told the police that she could most likely be found near Paula Abdul’s house. 

Paula Abdul was not home at the time because she filming the Hollywood round of auditions for American Idol. Say what you want about Paula, but she has a big heart and this news is really going to affect her. 

UPDATE: According to TMZ, the woman auditioned for American Idol 5

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• Paula Abdul: Police ID Body as Former Idol Contestant
• PAULA ABDUL IS ALL SMILES IN HOLLYWOOD

Police have identified the woman found dead outside American Idol judge Paula Abdul’s house as season 5 contestant Paula Goodspeed, whose performance of “Proud Mary” was mocked by judges (see video below).

Goodspeed, 30 — who was infatuated with Abdul and admitted she made “life-sized drawings of Paula” during her 2006 audition — died of an apparent drug overdose in an apparent suicide, the Associated Press reports. No official cause of death has been determined.

Goodspeed’s body was found in her car — which featured a license plate “ABL LV” and had a photo of Abdul hanging from the rear view mirror — outside the judge’s Los Angeles home Tuesday night around 6 p.m.

Abdul — who was working on Idol all day — was not home at the time. She returned late in the evening after the scene had cleared.

“I am deeply saddened and shocked about what transpired yesterday,” she tells Usmagazine.com in a statement. “My heart and prayers go out to her family.”

Her rep tells Entertainment Tonight that the woman had been an extreme fan and had “issues.” They knew about her for “several years,” her rep adds.

(source)

• PAULA ABDUL IS ALL SMILES IN HOLLYWOOD
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Donald Trump doesn’t just have the golden touch for business – he also has a heart of gold.

The real-estate mogul has been housing Jennifer Hudson and some of her relatives at the Trump International Hotel & Tower free of charge.

“She’s a great girl. And we’re protecting them well,” Trump told PEOPLE at a benefit honoring Australia director Baz Luhrman at the Museum of Modern Art Monday night. “They are very safe.”

Hudson has been seeking refuge at the Trump holding since her mother, brother and nephew were murdered in Chicago on Oct. 24.

(source)

• Electra Electrifies Trump’s Birthday Bash.
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The convicted felon suspected in the killings of the mother, brother and nephew of singer Jennifer Hudson has a parole hearing Monday and could be released if an administrative officer finds no reason to hold him.

No one has been charged in the shootings, but authorities have called 27-year-old William Balfour a “person of interest.”

Balfour is in custody on a parole violation. He is the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, sister of the singer and actress.

The chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Jorge Montes (HOR’-hay MON’-tehs), says that if an administrative officer finds cause to continue holding Balfour, the case then would go to a review board for a hearing.

However, Montes says “conceivably” Balfour could be released.

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the investigation of the killings is continuing and is independent of the prisoner review board’s decisions.

(source)

• Police: Child’s body found in SUV is Hudson nephew
• Hudson suspect had June drug arrest

Can the Bromance between Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell lose the B? Seems like that could be the case because Simon Cowell told the Daily Mirror he is giving up women after breaking up with Terri Seymour.

The X Factor supremo said: “Don’t worry about me - I don’t need a lonely hearts ad.

“I’m off women now. But everything’s fine between me and Terri - we’re still friends.

I wonder who is happier that he is finally single…Ryan Seacrest or Paula Abdul? Could you imagine if Paula Abdul and him bumped uglies…key word uglies…

(source)

• PAULA ABDUL ON SIMON COWELL RUMORS
• Paula Abdul is not going to like this

About a month ago I posted something about how Terri Seymour was given a Beverly Hills house by Simon Cowell which was valued at about $5M. Turns out that is not all she got in their split. Simon also gave her $5M in cash as well. So, ten million bucks for several years with Simon Cowell. Is it worth it? Would you do it? I am wondering if she had to sign some kind of confidentiality agreement. I would imagine she did, although Simon’s rep basically confirmed all the payments to Terri.”This isn’t the kind of thing he usually comments about.” Well, does he usually pass out checks for $10M to women? I mean there is not a big frame of reference here for whether he usually comments on these things. “Yeah, he comments about them when they get to $20M, but if it is just $10M it is another day in the office.”

I think Simon would probably be a pain in the ass to deal with, but I am too and I’m not handing out $10M checks. I think they genuinely loved each other and she just wanted more and he didn’t. So, she split and he thanked her by giving her $10M.

(source)

• Simon Cowell gives his ex a $9 million parting gift
• Ryan Seacrest has a chance with Simon Cowell?

Both Simon Cowell and Terri Seymour’s camps have been referring to their recent split as amicable, and well, how could it not be (at least for Seymour) when a $9 million goodbye gift is involved?

Cowell is said to have given Seymour, who he dated for six years, $5 million cash and another $4.6 to buy a Beverly Hills home just before calling it quits, reports Life & Style.

“Terri phoned Simon about six weeks ago and finished it,” his rep told Life & Style, referring to the breakup. “Simon thinks the world of Terri, and that isn’t going to change. He also understands her reason for ending it.”

According to the magazine, Seymour wanted to marry and start a family, whereas Cowell recently said, “I don’t want to marry anyone, because whoever marries me will end up hating me.”

As for the pile of money Seymour reportedly received: a rep for Cowell says, “this isn’t the kind of thing he usually comments about.”

(source)

• Simon Cowell Is $10 Million Too Much?
• Terri Seymour - Simon Cowells girlfriend in a bikini

Hundreds of mourners attended a private funeral service for Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson’s slain mother, brother and nephew Monday at a South Side church.

A composed Hudson paused before the bodies of her relatives before giving her mother a final kiss, said attendees of the invitation-only service.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were among those who spoke at the three-hour service for Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, Jason Hudson, 29, and Julian King, 7.

The three were found shot to death late last month, the adults in Donerson’s home and Julian in a vehicle found several miles away. Julian is the son of Jennifer Hudson’s older sister, Julia Hudson.

No one has been charged in the shootings, although authorities have called Julia Hudson’s estranged husband, 27-year-old William Balfour, a “person of interest.” He remains in custody on a parole violation.

During the service, “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino sang the gospel song “Your Grace and Mercy,” and at one point left the stage to take Jennifer Hudson’s hand and sing directly to her, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Small blue tickets that read “Hudson Family Funeral” were needed to enter the massive Apostolic Church of God, but that didn’t deter crowds of onlookers who gathered outside.

Glover Lewis, who lives in the same South Side neighborhood as the Hudson family, attended the services and told the Tribune he was touched by the way Hudson bid her family members goodbye.

“Jennifer is the pillar,” Lewis said. “It’s obvious she’s holding the family together.”

Shenika Bowers, 35, of Chicago was one of several dozen people who stood outside the church in hopes of sharing sympathies with the singer-actress.

“She needs us right now,” Bowers said of Hudson. “She needs support from everyone who she can get it from. I cannot imagine how she feels but I do feel for her.”

Latosha Funches, 33, of Chicago, said she’s been a Hudson fan since the singer was on “American Idol” and wanted to pass along her condolences.

“I have kids of my own too,” said Funches, who pushed her 11-month-old son in a stroller. “I know how she feels. I just hope she can get through it. She looks like she’s very strong.”

Jennifer Hudson was a finalist in the 2004 season of “American Idol” and she won her Oscar in 2007 for her film debut, a supporting role in “Dreamgirls.”

Monday’s services followed a public memorial held Sunday at Pleasant Gift Memorial Baptist Church, where Hudson sang in her childhood.

The bodies of Donerson and Jason Hudson were discovered Oct. 24 at the family’s home. Julian’s body was found three days later in a sport utility vehicle on the city’s West Side.

Police arrested Balfour the same day the bodies of Donerson and Hudson were discovered. After 48 hours - the longest Chicago police can hold a person without charges - Balfour was taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole violation.

Balfour had served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction.

His mother, Michelle Balfour, of Chicago, has denied that her son had anything to do with the deaths.

(source)

• Police: Child’s body found in SUV is Hudson nephew
• Triple tragedy leaves Hudson career at crossroads

Jennifer Hudson was joined by Fantasia Barrino at an invite-only funeral service held at Chicago’s Apostolic Church of God, for her mother, brother and nephew on Monday.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Barrino sang Your Grace and Mercy, and called the Hudsons “my family,” as she walked of stage and into the aisle where she took Jennifer’s hand and sang to the Oscar-winning actress.

“I think it healed Jennifer’s soul just then,” family friend Lisa Allison told the Chicago Tribune.

The family will be buried at Oak Woods Cemetery on the South Side, the paper reported.

The three hour service, which was attended by hundreds of mourners, comes ten days after Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, her brother, Jason, 29, and 7-year-old nephew Julian King were fatally shot with a .45 caliber semiautomatic.

William Balfour, the ex-husband of Hudson’s sister, Julia, is being held as a “person of interest” in the case. Chicago Police say the murders are “domestic-related.”

The newest issue of Us Weekly reports that Hudson family members didn’t take Balfour’s threats seriously.

(source)

• Police: Child’s body found in SUV is Hudson nephew
• Triple tragedy leaves Hudson career at crossroads

JOSIAH Leming, a homeless singer whose mother is dying of cancer, might be blocked from releasing the album he recorded because he was a contestant last season on “American Idol.”

Leming, 19, who didn’t make the show’s top 24, received an official letter from “Idol” threatening legal action if he puts out his record in January as planned.

“Idol” contestants must sign strict contracts with the show’s producer, Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment, promising to record only with the label chosen by “Idol” - Sony/BMG. The 19 Entertainment shop also retains exclusive right of refusal for management and merchandising.

When the smash-hit show began in 2002, only finalists had to sign the contract - but now it’s mandatory for all contestants.

A rep for Leming, who grew up in Tennessee as one of eight siblings, said, “Josiah was the only ‘Idol’ contestant ever to get a record deal who didn’t make the top 24, and one of only four contestants to get a deal this year. He has personal reasons for getting his music out, threat or not.”

Leming was the young man who was living in his car, performing on the road, when he auditioned earlier this year and was told by Simon Cowell during Hollywood Week, “Of all the auditions this year, this is the one I am going to remember most.”

Leming is now “is racing the clock,” his rep told us. “His mother has terminal cancer, and nothing is going to stop him from getting his music out while she is alive to share it. His album on Warner Records will be released in late January ‘09.”

Leming’s lawyer has shot a letter back to “Idol” producers but hasn’t heard back. “We’re waiting,” the rep said. An “Idol” rep didn’t return our calls or e-mails.

(source)

• Christina Aguilera: “Inspired” to Record After Having Baby
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The convicted felon suspected in the slayings of Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew was arrested after police allegedly found crack cocaine in his car in June, but authorities declined to return him to prison on a parole violation, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

A judge dismissed the charge for lack of probable cause in July, but under the strict rules of the state’s parole program, William Balfour could have gone back to prison just for the arrest.

No one has been charged in the shooting deaths of Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, her brother, Jason Hudson, and 7-year-old nephew Julian King, but Balfour has been named as a suspect. Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said Tuesday he is confident the case will be solved.

Balfour - Julian’s stepfather and the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister - served seven years for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking. Court records show that in 1998 Balfour stole a Chevrolet Suburban and, with the vehicle’s owner clinging to the top, intentionally rammed it into a light pole, fence and iron gate.

According to a Chicago police report, officers pulled Balfour over June 19 after hearing gunshots and seeing his car moving at a high rate of speed. Inside the vehicle, police said, they found a rock of cocaine with a street value of about $100 on the driver’s seat.

Balfour’s parole history report indicates a parole supervisor declined to issue a warrant to revoke Balfour’s parole after his arrest for possession of cocaine.

“Per supervisor … no warrant,” the report reads. “Agent to monitor offender, impose sanctions.”

Corrections Department spokesman Derek Schnapp said officials determined “the evidence that was presented during that time wouldn’t have necessarily warranted a violation.”

Court records do not indicate the reason a judge found no probable cause for the drug arrest.

A felony arrest usually is enough for Corrections to revoke parole, said Thomas Peters, a Chicago criminal defense attorney who represents parolees.

“Even though the criminal case is dismissed does not mean that you necessarily get a pass on a parole violation because the standard of proof is much less,” Peters said.

Peters added, however, that officials also would have considered Balfour’s fairly clean record as a parolee and that he apparently still had a job. In addition, he said, jail and prison overcrowding often play a role in determining whether parole is revoked.

Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 29, were found in their home Friday afternoon. The body of Julian, who lived with the other victims, was found in the back of an SUV on Chicago’s West Side on Monday. Authorities declared his death a homicide Tuesday but would not say how long he had been dead.

In a message posted on her MySpace.com page Monday, Julian’s mother thanked people for their prayers and said her son’s “lil soul is at ease.”

“I take comfort in knowing that Julian is with my mother and my brother and most of all the Lord and now he’s my angel he’s protecting,” Julia Hudson wrote.

Jennifer Hudson, who won a best-supporting-actress Oscar last year for “Dreamgirls,” has thanked fans for their support on her MySpace page but has been in seclusion in Chicago.

Around the time the first bodies were found, Balfour’s parole agent had reached him by phone after Balfour missed a meeting with him that day. Balfour told the agent he was “baby-sitting on the West Side of Chicago,” according to internal parole records.

The agent said he thought he heard a child in the background during the call. Balfour was taken into custody later Friday.

The Illinois Department of Corrections issued a warrant for Balfour on Saturday for violating terms of his parole by possessing a weapon and failing to attend anger management counseling and a substance abuse program, according to his parole history report.

Criminal charges can send parolees back to prison and keep them there even if the counts are ultimately dropped. A board that reviews such cases after parolees are sent back to prison relies on a preponderance of the evidence, a lower standard than in court. The board considers the violence of the original crime, the parole agent’s recommendation, the arrest report, the parolee’s adjustment and his attitude during a follow-up interview in prison, among other things.

In Balfour’s case, a violation could have sent him back behind bars for a period as long as the remainder of his parole - until May 2009 - minus a day off for each day of good behavior. That would have meant a release date in mid-December at the earliest.

Parole records also show that a woman at Balfour’s home refused to open the door during an agent’s visit on Aug. 27. The woman told the agent during the 8:30 a.m. visit that Balfour was at work but Balfour’s boss told the agent he wasn’t due until noon.

“Agent heard other people inside the host site and suspected maybe suspicious activities going on,” the report said. “Agent will be following up for a possible warrant on parolee.”

Parolees must agree to allow agents to visit their homes and consent to searches. There’s no warrant mentioned in following days on the report, which does note, however, that Balfour passed a drug test.

Schnapp, the corrections spokesman, said the evidence again wasn’t sufficient to warrant revoking parole.

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• Police: Child’s body found in SUV is Hudson nephew
• Parole hearing set for suspect in Hudson deaths

Chicago authorities say the 7-year-old nephew of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Cook County spokesman Sean Howard tells The Associated Press that in Tuesday’s autopsy the county’s medical examiner ruled Julian King’s death a homicide.

Howard declined to say where the child suffered wounds or how long he had been dead, citing an ongoing Chicago police investigation.

Julian’s body was found Monday in a white SUV, three days after the bodies of Hudson’s mother and brother were discovered in their home on the city’s South Side.

An Amber Alert was issued for Julian on Friday.

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• Police: Child’s body found in SUV is Hudson nephew
• Triple tragedy leaves Hudson career at crossroads

Jennifer Hudson blogged on MySpace asking for everyone to help find her 7 year old nephew Julian King who has been missing since Friday morning. She also thanked everyone for their prayers. Hopefully her nephew will be returned soon and unharmed. 

(source)

• Death of Jennifer Hudsons nephew ruled homicide
• Jennifer Hudson asks public to help find nephew, 7

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson appealed on Sunday for the public’s help in finding her 7-year-old nephew, missing since the shooting deaths of her mother and brother.

City police transferred custody of the man labeled a “person of interest” in the shooting deaths to state authorities.

An Amber Alert remained in effect Sunday for young Julian King, who disappeared on Friday, the day the bodies of his grandmother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and 29-year-old uncle Jason Hudson were found in the home they all shared on the city’s South Side. The deaths were ruled homicides.

The Amber Alert listed William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson, as a suspect in a “double homicide investigation.” Julia Hudson is the missing boy’s mother

Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said authorities considered Balfour a “person of interest” in the case but he had not been charged.

Authorities said the search for Julian would be citywide, but on Sunday residents and officers focused their efforts “in the immediate vicinity” of the family’s home in the Englewood section, said police spokesman Dan O’Brien.

Police said they did not have a motive for the killings but called the case “domestic related.”

“There’s a lot of forensic evidence. We have to work the evidence and try and solve this case,” Bond said Sunday. “Most importantly, we want to find the child.”

Bond said no weapon had been found at the Hudson home, a three-story house sandwiched by vacant lots littered with trash. On Sunday, investigators moved in and out of the home and examined the trash.

Police officers were instructed to place fliers with Julian King’s picture and description in every business in the area.

Jennifer Hudson, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in “Dreamgirls, was in Chicago with her family during the weekend, her sister said. A publicist did not disclose her whereabouts.

In a MySpace blog entry on Sunday, Hudson said she was grateful for community support and posted a picture of her sister’s son.

“Thank you all for your prayers and your calls. Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely,” the blog entry said. “If anyone has any information about his whereabouts please contact the authorities immediately … Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time.”

Bond said Balfour, who had been in police custody since Friday, was transferred Sunday to the Illinois Department of Corrections “based on his active parole violation unrelated to this investigation.”

Records from the corrections department show Balfour, 27, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said Balfour would likely remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say exactly where Balfour was being held.

It was unclear if Balfour had an attorney to speak for him Sunday, but his mother, Michele Balfour, has denied that he was involved the killings or in Julian’s disappearance.

During a public plea Saturday for the boy’s return, Julia Hudson described her son as a smart, sensitive and easygoing child.

“He’s not your typical 7-year-old,” she told a crowd at the family’s Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side. She was joined by the boy’s father, Greg King.

Hudson said she last saw her son Thursday night when they went out to dinner to celebrate her 31st birthday. Afterward, she said, she took Julian to the home she shared with her mother and brother, handed him to his grandmother and everyone went to sleep.

Julia Hudson said Saturday that she was confident her son was still alive and that she was praying for his return.

“Momma’s looking for you. I’m not going to stop until you come home,” she said.

Jennifer Hudson’s Sister’s Plea: ‘Just Let My Baby Go’

One day after Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother were found shot to death in their Chicago home – and her nephew Julian King was kidnapped – the Oscar winner’s sister Julia made an impassioned plea for her son’s return.

“I don’t care who you are, just let the baby go,” Julia Hudson said in a press conference held at the Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday. “I just want my son. He don’t deserve this.”

An Amber Alert was issued for the boy, Julian King, 7, on Friday and named Julia Hudson’s estranged husband, William Balfour, 27, as a suspect in the slayings. Balfour is in police custody for questioning, but no charges have been filed.

An autopsy confirmed that Darnell Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 29, died of gunshot wounds.

“It hurts,” Julia Hudson said of her mother and brother’s deaths. “We’re in a state of shock. I don’t know what else to do but pray.”

With the boy’s father, Greg King, by her side, Julia Hudson asked the public to keep an eye out for him, mentioning that he responds to nicknames like “Juice Box” and “Dr. King.” “He’s out there. Just let him go,” she said. Addressing her son, she added: “I love you. Mama’s looking for you.”

Julia added that sister Jennifer, 27, the Oscar-winning star of Dreamgirls and an American Idol alum, had flown in to be by her side as soon as she heard the tragic news. She said that upon hearing the news, Jennifer, “was screaming” and “flew in right away.”

Julian had been at his grandmother’s house on Friday and the two were, Julia said, “extremely close.”

“I worked, so he was always with her, day in and day out,” she said. “She did everything for him. She got him ready for school. She got him ready for bed.”

The Chicago FBI office confirmed to PEOPLE on Sunday that the agency is involved in the search for the boy.

“I can confirm that we have been asked to provide assistance to the Chicago police department to assist in the search for 7-year-old Julian King,” said Ross Rice, special agent and spokesman for the Chicago office of FBI.

When asked whether they had any promising leads, Ross declined to comment. “The key word there is assisting. It is still a Chicago police investigation, both the murder and the kidnapping, and any announcements would be best to come from them.”

And on Sunday morning, Jennifer Hudson updated her MySpace page with recent photos of her nephew and a statement from her family: “Thank you all for your prayers and your calls. Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely. If anyone has any information about his whereabouts please contact the authorities immediately. Here is a picture of Julian and what he was last seen wearing. Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time.”

(source)

• Police: Child’s body found in SUV is Hudson nephew
• Christina Aguilera: “Inspired” to Record After Having Baby