On Wednesday (March 17), we posed a question: Which "American Idol" judge has been the best of all time? The question came up because there is still no replacement lined up for Simon Cowell (though we have submitted more than a few suggestions) and because Kara DioGuardi has strangely elevated herself to the position of best judge on the show.
With that in mind, we got thousands of responses to the poll question, and lo and behold, Paula Abdul came out on top by quite a large margin. She took home 65 percent of the total vote, which drives home the fact that even though we're two months into the new season of the show, everybody still misses Abdul.
The departing Simon Cowell came in second place with 26 percent. That's a pretty large gap between first place and the second spot. That means that the remaining three judges — Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres — scored less than 10 percent combined (DeGeneres stood a distant third with four percent, followed by Jackson with three percent and DioGuardi bringing up the rear with two).
Though obviously the results of these polls don't have anything to do with science, "American Idol" could be in a lot of trouble if this poll represents a microcosm of the rest of the "Idol"-watching universe. Considering that the people voting prefer a judge who isn't there and one who is leaving at the end of this season over the three who will be left behind, that puts the onus on Cowell's replacement to really make a splash to keep the show (or at least the judging portions of it) completely afloat. Perhaps the "Idol" producers should just hire back Abdul and let her run the show?
What do you think of the results of the poll? Let us know in the comments!