MTV Newsroom › Paula-Abdul

'X Factor' Judge Paula Abdul On How To Perfectly Walk In Slow Motion!

Posted 9/26/11 2:58 pm EST by in reality tv, Television


One of my favorite things about “The X Factor” is just how damn slick it is. Contestants’ auditions get treated like full-blown “Idol” performances with swooping shots and a lighting rig. Confessionals are held in a giant light box that’s part pearly gates, part Gap commercial. Pop hits underscore the entire episode top to bottom. This is one expensive party.

But my favorite fancy touch is the way the show introduces the judging panel. In the two-night premiere, Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul and breakout star L.A. Reid strolled down the street in slow-motion, like “Reservoir Dogs” without the matching suits. (And, you know, the severed ear.) Beside being so damn pretty to look at, the over-the-top presentation is completely warranted. Cowell and Paula are rock stars in the reality TV genre. They’ve earned their glamour shots. (Nicole Scherzinger, on the other hand? Don’t get me started.)

Logistically, I wondered how difficult it would be to walk so fabulously, knowing the footage would eventually be slowed down to a snail's pace. Would you exaggerate your strut? Would you flip your hair more instinctively? Or, when you’re filthy rich like Paula and Simon, do you just always walk as if there’s a fan blowing in your face?

Last week, I had a quick chat with Ms. Abdul so obviously that was my first question. Why not go straight to the source, right?

Check out Paula’s adorable response below.

Read More...

Tags ,

'The X Factor': Top Three Standouts

Posted 9/22/11 12:45 pm EST by in Newsroom Poll, Television


By Christina Garibaldi

Thank you, Television Gods, Simon Cowell has returned! On Wednesday night, "The X Factor" premiered, and let’s just say it was well worth the wait. Singers twelve and up took the stage in front of a crowd of over 4,000 people to sing their hearts out in order to move on to the next round and eventually take home a $5 million prize and a recording contract.

Yet, in order to do so, they have to get three yeses from the judges panel, who in my opinion, are the best set of competition judges out there … sorry Randy Jackson! Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul’s dynamic chemistry picked up right where it left off on “American Idol” and L.A Reid showed us he might give Simon a run for his money. British pop star Cheryl Cole took the judges seat for the first hour and then awkwardly left to make room for Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. Oh yes, and there was singing. Many took the stage, both young to old, from solo to group performances, but there were three standouts from the premiere episode that really got our attention: Read More...

Tags , , ,

MC Skat Kat (And Paula Abdul) Hits Number One: Wake-Up Video

Posted 2/10/11 9:30 am EST by in Wake-Up Video


In the pantheon of cartoon cats, only a handful stand out as true legends. Sylvester's adventures with Tweety are of course legendary, and Garfield would certainly have his visage carved into the Mount Rushmore of animated felines (likely alongside Felix, Cheetara from "Thundercats" and Gargamel's pet kitty Azrael on "The Smurfs"). But though the exploits of all those cats will live on, do any of them have a song that sat on top of the Billboard Hot 100? MC Skat Kat does, as on this day in 1990, his tag-team smash with Paula Abdul "Opposites Attract" found itself in just such a position.

"Opposites Attract" was one of the centerpiece tracks of Abdul's 1988 debut album Forever Your Girl. It was also the last of four singles to take the top spot on the Hot 100, as "Straight Up," "Forever Your Girl" and "Cold Hearted" all made their way to the top of the heap. The actual male vocals on "Opposites Attract" were handled by Bruce DeShazer and Marv Gunn, a duo who called themselves the Wild Pair. But when it came to the public face of "Opposites Attract" (including the famous video, which found itself in extremely heavy rotation on MTV), it was all about MC Skat Kat.

Created by Michael Patterson (one of the animators responsible for a-ha's groundbreaking video for "Take On Me") and animated by a team from Disney lead by Chris Bailey (who worked on "The Lion King," "The Littler Mermaid" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks"), MC Skat Kat became something of a cultural phenomenon for a few years. In fact, MC Skat Kat was so popular that he inspired an entire album called The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob, still the only rap album recorded by a cartoon cat. That album wasn't much of a success, but "Opposites Attract" lives on.


Tags , ,

Paula Abdul's 'Live To Dance': Welcome Back, Old Friend

Posted 1/5/11 11:30 am EST by in Television


America's favorite loopy reality TV judge Paula Abdul returned to prime time Tuesday night (January 4) with her brand new show "Live to Dance." And while that title suggests that people might be executed if they don't learn a two-step, the show was far less enticing than that assumption would suggest.

Basically, it's a hodgepodge of other competitive reality TV shows. (Call it "So You Think You Got Talent, Dance Crews?") Paula sits on a panel of "experts" (not judges) and awards gold stars to a variety of dancers in every genre imaginable in every age group conceivable (as young as six and as old as 90). They have one thing in common: none of them are particularly amazing or amazingly bad. They're all just ... there.

Paula has been saying in her promo tour that "Live to Dance" is a "little gem" that celebrates dance. They're not out to mock the delusional like "Idol" does during its infamous audition episodes. Paula and her expert panel (made up of a former Pussycat Doll and one of Michael Jackson's old choreographers) are there to encourage encourage encourage, even if they’re simultaneously crushing the dreams of eight-year-olds.

The premiere's pacing was somehow zippy and deadly at the same time. Auditions barely lasted a minute, yet by the time the two-hour premiere hit the 30-minute mark, it felt as though I had been watching for days. It was difficult to form much of a connection with any of the contestants, save for a brief "Awww, that little kid's cute" or "That old lady's a trip!" There's $500,000 on the line, so why didn't it feel like anything was at stake? (Even the troupe of homeless kids looked as though they were there because producers and stage-parents told them to hit a mark, rather than, you know, win half a million bucks.) I can't imagine any viewers picking up a phone to vote once the competition starts (besides the contestants' relatives).

The show's best asset by far was Paula. Read More...

Tags ,

The Original 'American Idol' Judges Voted Best In A Landslide

Posted 9/23/10 2:30 pm EST by in Music


Starting in January, "American Idol" will open up on a new era. When the show returns to the airwaves, the judges' table will look entirely new, as Jennifer Lopez and longtime Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will be joining Randy Jackson as the new adjudicators of talent on the hit show. (The producers also announced a bunch of other changes for next season, including the elimination of theme weeks and a permanent position for music business mastermind Jimmy Iovine.)

Tyler and Lopez certainly lend the show a healthy dose of star power (they each have a long history of success on stage, in the studio and out among the people), it will be interesting to see exactly what kind of vibe and chemistry they bring to the table. They have an uphill battle ahead of them, as according to the results of yesterday's poll, the original three judges (Jackson, Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul) are by far the most beloved of any combination the show has ever had. That trio took home just about 70 percent of the vote, blowing away the nearest competition. Second place went to the new lineup (which at least bodes well for the show compared to the most recent seasons), grabbing 16 percent. The team of Cowell, Abdul, Jackson and Kara DioGuardi got eight percent, and bringing up the rear is season nine's combination of Cowell, Jackson, DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres (they took home a mere six percent).

Of course, we won't know how well Tyler and Lopez perform until the cameras roll on their work and the shows are broadcast. But even though they haven't been a team in several seasons, that original trio remains on a pedestal. At least people seem to be more interested in the new team than last year's squad, which gets them off on the right foot.

Tags , , , , , , ,

'American Idol' Officially Announces New Judges, So Which Team Is The Best?

Posted 9/22/10 1:30 pm EST by in Music


After months of contract-based turmoil and seemingly countless rumors, the producers of "American Idol" have finally made it official. The next season of the show — which is scheduled to begin airing in January 2011 and will represent the show's 10th go-round — will feature a judges' table that consists of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and actress/pop sensation Jennifer Lopez (in addition to Randy Jackson, the only judge left from the show's first episode).

There has been turnover behind the judges' table before, but it has never been quite as dramatic as this. The show seemed to be humming along well as a trio before the introduction of Kara DioGuardi made the panel into a quartet. Then Paula Abdul exited, clearing the way for Ellen DeGeneres to fill in. But this season, neither DeGeneres nor DioGuardi will be returning, and that's on top of the fact that Simon Cowell — who has been the show's face and guiding hand since its inception — decided to bolt in favor of throwing his weight behind an American version of his hit British competition show "X Factor."

With all that upheaval, that leaves us with Jackson, Tyler and Lopez, all of whom bring distinct personalities to the show. But will they be able to provide enough different kinds of opinions to the table? And what will their chemistry be like? And most of all, who will assume the Cowell role of blunt, stern taskmaster?

All those questions will be answered in a few months, but at the moment, we can speculate plenty. Based solely on the idea of the new trio of judges, how do they match up against the other versions of the panel? Vote for your favorite combination below and let us know why you voted the way you did in the comments.

Tags , , , , , , ,

Paula Abdul's New Show, 'Shrek' Dominates The Box Office And Simon Monjack Dies: Three To See

Posted 5/24/10 3:36 pm EST by in Music


Every morning, MTV News delivers the top news stories in music, movies and pop culture hot and fresh for your reading and watching pleasure. We then bring together a trio of the biggest headlines for "Three to See," the daily digest of the top stories making noise on our site and across the Internet. This morning, stories on Simon Monjack's death, Paula Abdul's new television show and the box office take of "Shrek" lead the way.

Paula Abdul To Return To TV With "Got To Dance"
Nearly a year after walking away from her chair behind the judges' table on "American Idol" comes the news that Paula Abdul will be returning to television in the fall. She'll be the lead judge and executive producer on CBS' "Got to Dance," a reality dance competition that is based on a hit British series.

"Shrek" Dominates The Box Office
Though it didn't make nearly as much opening weekend bank as the two previous sequels (both of which are among the 12 biggest first weekends of all time), "Shrek Forever After" still turned a pretty penny over the weekend. The fourth entry in the series raked in $71.3 million over the course of three days, easily putting it in first-place on the chart. "Iron Man 2" came in second, followed by "Robin Hood" and "Letters to Juliet." Meanwhile, "MacGruber" took a dive, as the high-profile "Saturday Night Live" film scored a paltry $4.1 million and sixth-place on the box office chart.

Brittany Murphy's Husband Simon Monjack Dies
A mere five months after the tragic death of "Clueless" actress Brittany Murphy comes the sad news that her husband Simon Monjack has also passed away. The 39-year-old screenwriter was found dead on Sunday evening (May 23) of as-yet-unknown causes. He was discovered by Murphy's mother Sharon, who also found her daughter's body back in December.

Tags , , , , ,

'American Idol' Judges Poll Results: Paula Abdul Comes Out On Top

Posted 3/18/10 6:00 pm EST by in Music, Television


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!

Tags , , , , ,

In 'American Idol' History, Who Has Been The Best Judge?

Posted 3/17/10 4:50 pm EST by in Music, Television


There is no shortage of drama on the "American Idol" stage during the ninth season of the show. Did Andrew Garcia peak too early? Is Aaron Kelly too young? Will Crystal Bowersox keep the lead? Can Siobhan Magnus make a run to the top? The field seems wide open, which is fueling plenty of speculation and making the competition the most even it has been in years.

The drama doesn't stop there, though, as there is a narrative unfolding at the judges' table as well. Before this season started, alpha dog Simon Cowell announced he would be leaving the show after this season is complete in order to fully commit himself to the American version of his U.K. hit "X-Factor." This season also represented the introduction of Ellen DeGeneres, who sits on the panel as the voice of the fan and has brought some much-needed professional comedy to the proceedings.

The combination of Cowell's impending exit, former judge Paula Abdul's notable absence, Ellen's new role and Kara DioGuardi's sudden ascension to alpha dog status has created an unpredictable energy in the judges' chairs and has also fueled a ton of speculation about the future of the show.

A few weeks ago, we asked how Ellen was doing, and an equal number of people thought of her as the best judge the show had ever seen and someone who should be fired and replaced by Abdul. With DioGuardi's constant improvement, it made us wonder: In the nine season history of the show, which judge is the best of all time? Vote below and leave your argument in the comments.

Tags , , , , ,

The Top 10 'American Idol' Twitterers

Posted 2/18/10 7:40 pm EST by in Music


Internet addicts, rejoice! The season nine "American Idol" contestants will be allowed to tweet (and update Facebook and MySpace pages) for the first time in the show's history! So far the top 24 has remained mum, but while we wait for the newbies to peep their first tweets, I thought it'd be fun to highlight my top 10 favorite "Idol" Twitter-heads from seasons past.

#HereWeGo

10. Kelly Clarkson
The original "Idol" only picked up Twitter somewhat recently, but she took to it like a champ. (Sort of.) Kelly has always made her fans feel like close personal friends and her Twitter page is no different. And when she decides to speak her mind, you'll want to be one of the first people to hear it.

9. Frenchie Davis
Long before Chris Golightly, we had the original DQ diva, Frenchie Davis. Lucky for us, Frenchie's sass levels are still through the roof, and the woman knows her way around a Twitter trend. As Frenchie would say, "Werq!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

8. Paula Abdul
Do you watch "Idol" and miss Paula's New Age-y words of wisdom? There's a very easy way to fix that problem — click the follow button.

Read More...

Tags , , , , ,

Page 1 of 41234
SPONSORS
AD:
©2012 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.