>What the hell? So, she acknowledges that she spoke with Corey Clark on the phone while he was a contestant. What possible reason did she give Fox about those phone calls? I’m not even saying that she did have a sexual relationship with the guy. I just don’t think it’s ethical to be speaking with someone whom you are judging outside of the normal business hours. I know the guy didn’t make it through, but the fact of the matter is that she would have had other interactions to base her decisions on.
Not that this is the Olympics or anything, but it stands to reason that people who watch American Idol think they are getting judges who are fairly basing their evaluations on the talent of the performer and their act in front of them. If you see more of the person (rhetorically speaking) than just what is presented on stage, you will have a different point of view. There really should be little to no iteraction with the judges outside of the performance. Sequester them like a jury.
For all I know, Paula Abdul is a great person, but I can only judge by what I see on TV and read in the media. If I talked to her on the phone, I would have a different estimation of her.
To be fair, on the first few seasons of American Idol, I did and still do appreciate that Paula Abdul was being nice to people when she handed down her judgments. But, as the seasons progressed, that niceness morphed into “I love everyone, who cares about acting professional”. It got to the point where it was annoying.
I don’t think Fox handled this well. I just can’t believe that there was a legitimate reason for Paula Abdul to have contacted a contestant outside of the normal business hours. Heck, I don’t even call my coworkers when I’m off from work. Why should I? Unless there’s some sort of emergency I don’t want to hear from those people. Was there an American Idol emergency and Paula needed to contact him because the people who get paid to be assistants were unable to do it?