With American Idol rounding the home stretch -- Adam Lambert's hairsprayed mane held rigidly in place as he kicks dust into the face of the nearest competition, galloping three full Gokey-lengths behind him -- we thought we'd take a moment to sort through the avalanche of Idol-related items clogging our RSS feeders.
· Tonight's 20/20 features an exclusive one-on-one with Paula Abdul, in which the show's intermittently coherent cheer-fairy is asked point-blank if she's a pill-popping mess. She isn't. [ABC News]
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· Meanwhile, some are saying that widely derided Paula 2.0 Kara DioGuardi was apparently slipped the finger by Simon as she delivered a critique Tuesday night. It's at the 2:52 mark of this video. We're not convinced -- maybe he's just a middle-finger temple-scratcher! [mjsbigblog]
· Then again, they may be on to something: "She was so upset, she couldn't hold it back. Kara was telling everybody, 'I don't care anymore. I'm going to quit!' She didn't sign up to be anybody's punching bag. That's what she feels she's become." [OK!]
· Pillow-lipped, caterpillar-browed, crooning dreamboat Anoop Desai has decided to abandon his grad-school pursuits to pursue his first love, nailing groupies music. His parents' first reaction was to remain in their chairs smiling a lot and looking cute. [Reuters]
· Back to Kara! She absolutely denies quitting, or being loathed by her fellow judges, or there being any Kara-related suffering or injustice in the world. Phew! [ET Online]