American Idol contracts: Equally tight

It's not clear if the X Factor contract forbids contestants from killing themselves, but that seems to have been missing from the American Idol paperwork. Paula Abdul suggests that Paula Goodspeed's humiliation on the programme might have been constructed to create a TV moment:

In an interview with Barbara Walters on Sirius XM radio on Monday night, Abdul said that American Idol's producers knew that Goodspeed had stalked her (she maintained a restraining order against her intermittently for 18 years) and, in fact, allowed her to audition precisely for that reason. "It's fun for them to cause me stress," Abdul said. "This was something that would make good television." Abdul said that she protested Goodspeed's appearance on the show, but that the producers selected her "for entertainment value."

Goodspeed, of course, went on to kill herself; you might find yourself wondering at a TV show which cares so little about its fodder, but also so little for its supposed stars, that it would allow stalker and stalkee to come face-to-face. Walters certainly did:

When Walters asked why Abdul remains on a program that jeopardizes her safety, Abdul said, "I'm under contract."

Let's hope that doesn't give Cowell any ideas - hmm, a judge with a contract out on them...