American Idol Update

American Idol isn't just a hit--lately it's been making news.

While I was sorry to see Constantine go a few weeks ago, now that the end is in sight, it makes sense there's only one rocker. More important, Scott Savol's much-anticipated exit finally happened (maybe a month or two late). It wasn't just that he didn't have the chops--offstage, he was perhaps the most annoying contestant ever to make it to the final twelve.

What's even better about his removal is it stopped the silly rumor--some in the media who should know better even repeated it--that a large vote was keeping him alive out of perversity. The Vote For The Worst website openly campaigned for Scott, hoping to make him the winner. I thought the concept was funny, but was disappointed when I read on and saw it was based on childish conspiracy-mongering (that the producers and judges "force" a winner on us each season, as if favorites won't naturally arise). The show is huge, and many millions call in, so it's hard for any organized group to run away with the vote.

The AI scandal, brought to the fore in a special edition of ABC's Primetime Live (trying to get some of that AI ratings-heat), is that former contestant Corey Clark had an affair with judge Paula Abdul. Abdul denies.

My guess is Fox doesn't mind the free publicity. The only question will be what to do about Paula. If the charges appear to be true, should they take action? They've got a huge hit, so why mess with the formula? On the other hand 1) game shows have tried to be super clean since the 1950s scandals, and 2) Paula (unlike Simon) probably wouldn't be hard to replace.

If the fallout is that Paula goes, she's blown the best gig in show biz.