The image of a young male movie star dying before his time has happened so often that it has become a cliché. The landscape is littered with heartthrobs who have run headlong into tragedy and caused heartbreak for friends, family and fans. But the icon who originally set the tragic precedent was James Dean, who died in a car accident on this day in 1955. A great enthusiast of fast cars and races, Dean was test-driving a new Porsche Spyder on a California highway when college student Donald Turnupseed swerved into Dean's lane and collided with him head-on. Dean died of his injuries a few hours later, and was ironically stopped and ticketed for speeding only a few hours before his collision. Though he had only really completed three starring roles by the time he passed away, his entire filmography is considered classic canon: "Rebel Without a Cause," "East of Eden" and "Giant" (which was released after his death) earned Dean a pair of Oscar nominations for Best Actor and gave him a reputation as one of the finest actors of his generation.

Since his death, Dean has become a metaphor for tortured artists, studious actors, rebels, the sexually-liberated and thrill-seekers. He is name-checked in countless songs, films and television shows, and his movies have been parodied ad infinitum. One such tribute? Former "American Idol" judge and MC Skat Kat collaborator Paula Abdul's video for her chart-topping 1991 hit "Rush, Rush." The clip was an homage to "Rebel Without a Cause" that cast a young Keanu Reeves in the Dean role.

It's time for another weekend, which means there must be a fresh week's worth of news and insight here in the archives of the Newsroom blog. The smoke finally cleared on the Kanye West "interruption" incident at the Video Music Awards, but plenty of other things filled the void: The premiere of "Dancing with the Stars," the emergence of the friendship between Hayley Williams and Taylor Swift, the premiere of a new Miley Cyrus video and a possible new job for Paula Abdul. This week, we also went behind the scenes with the likes of LeBron James, Paramore, Justin Bieber and Kris Allen. Check out the week's highlights below before you pack the kids in the car and drive to the lake.

» Miley Cyrus premiered the new video for her hit single "Party in the U.S.A." this week. We polled the public and asked the question: Too sexy? Not sexy enough?

» Paramore invited MTV News down to Nashville for a visit, and we even got the guided tour of frontwoman Hayley Williams' car.

» "American Idol" winner Kris Allen dodged a bunch of questions but still came across as charming.

» The "Kanye West interrupts" meme was successfully killed by the Emmy Awards.
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It's been nearly two months since Paula Abdul announced that she would not be returning to her judges' chair on "American Idol," and though she made quite a splash as the host of "VH1 Divas" last week (complete with a tongue-in-cheek look at her "Idol" replacement Ellen DeGeneres), she still doesn't have a full-time gig to replace her "Idol" job. Though there were rumors that she would be added to the adjudicators' table on "So You Think You Can Dance," it appears as though that offer was only as a guest. Now comes the rumor that Fox may be importing "X-Factor" — another performance-based British import created and produced by "American Idol" main man Simon Cowell — for the U.S. and the top judge position may be going to Abdul herself.

Abdul has always been the charming second banana on "American Idol," but even with DeGeneres' big personality, it will always be Cowell's show. Does Paula have the chops to take the lead on a show of her own? The most recent season of "Idol" saw her definitely step her game up, and some of her rosy insight actually worked as constructive criticism (as opposed to previous seasons, where she basically hugged everybody who walked through the door). But if you think about it, do you actually know what Paula looks for in a performer? Cowell's worldview is pretty clear (as is Randy Jackson's, though to a lesser extent), but Paula's criteria isn't entirely clear. Obviously, the opportunity to anchor her own program would give her the chance to share those thoughts, but at the moment we don't really know what we'd be getting.

But let's assume that Abdul does take over "X-Factor." The question then becomes: Who do you add to the team? It's unlikely that MC Skat Kat will become a fixture on the show, so after that we're out of ideas. Got any bright ones? Drop some knowledge in the comments below or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard.

Last night's "VH1 Divas" show featured a number of show-stopping performances (especially its collaborations, with Miley Cyrus teaming up with Sheryl Crow and Leona Lewis singing with Cyndi Lauper on "True Colors"), but the show was clearly stolen by host Paula Abdul. In her first high-profile television appearance since her exit from "American Idol," Abdul came out and performed a medley of some of her biggest hits, including "Straight Up," "Cold Hearted Snake" and "Forever Your Girl." She also grabbed headlines by dressing up like Ellen DeGeneres, her replacement at the judges' table on "Idol."

But it was Abdul's resurrection of MC Skat Kat that totally stole the show. During the medley, Paula busted into her hit "Opposites Attract" and welcomed a video-assisted Skat Kat out of retirement to produce his vocal lines and re-create their iconic video.

Abdul's performance was frothy fun, but the actual "diva" moments all came care of "American Idol" alumnae, with Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson both tearing the house down with the sort of classic torch songs that defines divadom. Ironically, the best vocal performance of the night might have come from the least recognizable participant in last night's show, as Adele busted out a stunning version of "Hometown Glory" that left the crowd absolutely blown away. She came back later (with special guest India.Arie) for a reggae-inflected rendition of "Video" that similarly brought the live crowd to its feet. Considering Adele wasn't even mentioned in yesterday's Oh Snap! Poll, she certainly re-established herself as a true diva last night.

It seems like the music world is only just recovering from the MTV Video Music Awards, but it's already time to move on to the next huge event on the calendar. Tonight, VH1 brings back "Divas," which will air live from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York, tonight at 9 p.m. ET. The show will feature performances from next-gen divas Leona Lewis, Adele, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, Jordin Sparks and Kelly Clarkson. But the entire show may be hijacked by host Paula Abdul, who will be taking part in her first television show since her departure from "American Idol." In the show's history, "Divas" has featured just about every huge female name in music, from Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Tina Turner, Cher, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige and Beyoncé. But just about every year has one dominant diva, a single lady who sets herself apart from the rest of the pack. Who will stand slightly taller at tonight's show? Will Jennifer Hudson reign supreme or will Kelly Clarkson declare herself queen? Will Miley Cyrus elevate herself to diva status or will Jordin Sparks rise above?

Because there are so many diva experts in the MTV Newsroom, we decided to pass the microphone around the office and get everybody's thoughts on who their favorite diva is.

The fantastically unscientific results are in, and Clarkson narrowly gets the nod with 29 percent, but she has Miley Cyrus nipping at her heels with 26 percent. But looking down the list, there's also a healthy contingent who think Abdul could steal the whole show.

With Paula Abdul currently out of the picture, the producers of "American Idol" are working on beefing up the star power on the show. So far, they've only broken out the big guns: Katy Perry, Mary J. Blige, Shania Twain and Victoria Beckham have all been confirmed for the upcoming season of the show, and two more huge stars are apparently close to confirming their participation. The first, Kelly Clarkson, is an obvious choice. Why wouldn't you want to involve the first (and arguably most successful) "American Idol" winner? The other name is probably bigger and arguably more intriguing than Clarkson, and that's Joe Jonas of those more-famous-than-famous Jonas Brothers.

While Joe doesn't necessarily have the same sort of long career that Blige or Twain or even Clarkson, he's a guy who knows all about singing, performance, songwriting and fame. Since the Jonas Brothers exist in just about every pop music context you can find (pop and rock, kids and teens, dance music and ballads), he should have advice for everybody, not just the contestants who seem to match up with his worldview. (Blige, for example, probably would be no help to anybody with more of a rock background, and Twain will likely only be useful to those finalists interested in country music.)

And since Joe is a pretty playful performer and often game for whatever (he did pour himself into a catsuit to pay homage to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" video after all), he would be ready to banter with Randy, go toe-to-toe with Simon and do whatever it is that Kara does. It'll make for some great television as well as produce good music.

So here's hoping the rumor morphs its way into confirmation. And why stop at just offering him a guest slot? Make him a permanent member of the team! He's probably got a lot of other stuff going on (what with being in one of the biggest bands in the world and all), but even if you don't like the Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas can only bring awesomeness to the upcoming season of "American Idol."

Move over Alexa Chung. There's a new morning chat show headed to MTV: "Wake Up with Kris and Jim."

Okay, not really.

But "American Idol" winner Kris Allen did express interest in co-hosting a daily talk show with me, provided his music career doesn't pan out. (As if.)

That was just one of the nuggets left on the cutting room floor of our four part "Kris Allen: Raw" interview, which premiered earlier this week. Although we initially posted about eight (super-focused) minutes of our chat, Kris and I gabbed for almost twenty minutes, touching on everything from sex toys to Danny Gokey (two things I never thought I'd see in the same sentence). Read more...

Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with staff members. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

We're now at the point where Justin Timberlake might actually be obsessive compulsive. Sure, he has made a name for himself as a singer, dancer, actor and comedian, but lately he's been casting his net especially wide. Having just opened up his first golf course, Timberlake apparently has his heart set on becoming a member of Hell's Angels. The multi-talented star was spotted leaving Los Angeles eatery Cafe Med on his motorcycle, which is a custom Harley Davidson.

(Click here for the entire archive of Spotted! photos, including Beyoncé, Britney Spears, the Jonas Brothers and more!)

He's not the only former "Mickey Mouse Club" cast member to enjoy two-wheeled action, as actor Ryan Gosling has been seen cruising around town on a vintage Honda motorcycle.

Elsewhere in today's update: Rick Ross exits his New York hotel (he would later join John Legend on stage at Madison Square Garden), Joe Jonas runs (and sweats) in a charity race, Paula Abdul gets some medical attention in Los Angeles and the freshly-impregnated Kourtney Kardashian pays a visit to BET's "106 & Park." Check out these photos — as well as the entire ongoing archive — in MTV News' "Spotted!" photo gallery.

Late last night and after months of speculation, Paula Abdul announced via Twitter that she would not be coming back to "American Idol" for the show's ninth season (which begins shooting soon). The decision has rocked "Idol" fans everywhere and has lead to all sorts of speculation. What will Paula do now? Will "American Idol" add a fourth judge or just stick with three? Was it really just about money? Did Ryan Seacrest's new contract torpedo Abdul's deal? Was it because Randy kept calling her "Dawg"?

But those are questions for down the road. Right now, we can only wonder whether or not Paula's absence will help or hurt the show. So we hit the street to talk to some of the people hanging out for today's episode of "It's On with Alexa Chung" and asked them whether they think Paula's absence from "Idol" will be a good thing or a bad thing.

The results are in, and as woefully unscientific as they are, they still point to a landslide. In fact, 73 percent of the people we talked to said that the show would be hurt by a lack of Paula. Many seemed to like her positive attitude, while others cited her occasional zaniness as something they'll miss. Still others just wanted to have everything remain the same. The Paula story is probably not over, and we won't know what the true effects are until the show airs again in January, but until then, speculate away!

What do you think: Will "Idol" take a dive without the presence of Paula? Or is the show better off without her? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!

So Paula Abdul is leaving "American Idol," marking the first exit from the judges' table in the show's history. (Though it isn't the first high-profile exit, as Brian Dunkleman famously ducked out of hosting duties for greener pastures after the second season.) That leaves anchor judge Simon Cowell to team up with Randy Jackson and relative newcomer Kara DioGuardi to tell crazy people that they are not very good singers.

Though the four-person judging panel got mixed reviews last year, it seems like Fox needs to fill the Abdul-shaped hole and get a fourth judge who will provide semi-coherent platitudes in between trying to put Cowell in his place. But who can fit that very specific description? Glad you asked!

Janet Jackson
Her and Abdul have had similar careers (though Jackson has obviously stayed relevant as a singer for far longer), but perhaps it's time she slowed down to help a new generation of stars. It'd be a boost to her and to the show.
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