February 11, 2011 07:21 AM PDT

Paula Abdul's Dance Card Empty — Will She Reunite with Simon?

Get More: Cancellations, Scoop

Michael Ausiello

If Simon Cowell wants Paula Abdul for X Factor, it appears a major obstacle has been cleared.

Although a CBS spokesperson maintains that no final decision has been made, sources confirm that Abdul’s low-rated reality series Live to Dance will not be returning for a second season.

Despite a promising start in the ratings, Dance stumbled mightily over the course of its seven-week run. Wednesday’s finale — which saw pint-sized ballroom dancers D’Angelo and Amanda take top honors — attracted only 4.8 million viewers.

So, will the ex-American Idol judge two-step her way back to Fox as an X Factor mentor? “She’s in the mix,” Cowell recently told Access Hollywood, “but, you know, a lot of people are in there.”

What do you think Abdul should do next? And are you disappointed Dance is dead? Hit the comments!

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Tags: CBS, Live To Dance, Paula Abdul

Comments (24)

I’m in no way sad to see the show go. I want to see her with Simon again.
Comment by Maxi – February 11, 2011 07:25 AM PDT Reply To This Post
We’ve seen this coming anyway.I can see how Paula is regretting leaving Idol.
Comment by Jeremy – February 11, 2011 07:27 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Paula doesn’t seem to be missing Idol at all. She helped make Idol the number one show on television, and they still had no respect until after she left. Even Simon was awful without Paula. I think Paula being on XF has been in the plans since before she even left Idol….in fact that’s probably why she LEFT Idol. People seriously do not give her enough credit. Just watch what S & P do to Idol. And I was hoping Paula could do both shows. I loved LTD, and I think it would be fine in another timeslot. Unfortunately it got put up against the show that she helped make number one.
  Comment by Liz – February 11, 2011 07:59 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - What could S&P do to Idol? XF & Idol are both on Fox at different times of the year.
    Comment by AJ – February 11, 2011 02:08 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - I loved Live to Dance, too, but I had a hard time finding it sometimes. In the beginning, it was a bit silly, like America’s Got Talent, but the level of dancing shot up pretty quickly. I got to watch most of the shows, anyway.
    Comment by Margie – February 12, 2011 08:37 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I knew this would flop. She should have stayed with AI. Hopefully she joins Simon Cowell. It will be fun to see that happen again. And also, you know her show is a joke when two KIDS end up taking the #1 spot.
Comment by Kay – February 11, 2011 07:38 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- She didn’t have a choice about staying with AI; she was fired (contract not renewed…same difference in tv land). She took an opportunity that CBS gave her and it turned out that it wasn’t successful. Although I’m not a huge fan (never have been), she was smart enough to keep her profile high and take the CBS offer. Now she will most likely go with Simon and be part of an expected hit show (if it is a flop then that will be BIG NEWS).
  Comment by Daniel – February 11, 2011 09:49 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Paula Abdul’s comments were just as inane and crazy as on AI. I actually liked the comments by the other two (coherent) judges but I thought that the contestants selected were completely controlled by the producers designed to appeal to all ages rather than the best actual dance acts.

The dancers were okay (I especially liked Twitch and Dance Town Chaos) but I found the extremely old and the extremely young contestants gross, and they took spots that could have been much better filled by other teams. I’m glad that ballet was represented but those two were not that good. Kendall Glover made me want to hurl every time she was interviewed.

I don’t think this competition filled a niche that isn’t already better represented by SYTYCD and America’s Best Dance Crew. It won’t be missed.
Comment by Ed – February 11, 2011 07:51 AM PDT Reply To This Post
As much as I like Paula, I don’t see her being on the new show. Despite what the format is, the judges define these types of show. With her and Simon both on the panel it will look like a cheap re-hash of AI, and FOX doesn’t need two shows that would be essentially indistinguishable from each other.
Comment by Rush – February 11, 2011 08:41 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I think the show was too rushed. If they were not confident with the show, they ought not have rushed it so much – they ought to have staged it in the summer with SINGLE eliminations over the course of twice as many episodes.

That said, I’d love to see Paula on X-factor – but she was beyond loopy in some of her Dance dialogue.
Comment by John Berggren – February 11, 2011 09:01 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Since this makes Paula’s third failed series since leaving Idol (her reality show and her cheerleading compettion show the other two), I think it is pretty clear that the majority of TV viewers are not missing Paula.

As much as I would like to see Simon be knocked down a peg or two with a flop, I don’t think he’s foolish enough to cast somene with Paula’s track record and emotional (if not chemical) baggage on his show.

He flirts with Cheryl Cole on the UK version of the X-factor just as much as he did with Paula and his eyes light up whenever he is interviewed about Nicole Scherzinger. I think he will cast one, if not both, of them.
Comment by Pat – February 11, 2011 09:22 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Well I can tell you I won’t watch X Factor is Nicole is a judge. She has the most grating personality. I hope he doesn’t make that mistake.
  Comment by GS – February 11, 2011 09:40 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Simon with Cheryl will never approach the chemistry of Simon & Paula…one of the best match-ups in television history. Cheryl can’t make a decision and has zero personality. And 95% of Americans have no clue who she is. And Nicole is only being mentioned because she guest judged on British XF. Neither one of these women is up to sparring with Simon. Paula wrote the book on sparring with Simon. And NO Simon is not foolish….and that’s why Paula will be sitting beside him on XF. That and the fact that he adores her beyond words. And Paula has not done three shows since leaving Idol…she’s done one…LTD.
  Comment by Anne – February 11, 2011 11:29 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Anne, you could not have said this better. Simon and Paula are pure magic together. Cheryl is empty window dressing and Nicole is overexposed. Neither one of them ignite any sparks with Simon. America would love nothing more than to see Simon reunited with Paula, and I think Simon knows that. She is the only choice to fill that seat next to him. I’m sorry LTD didn’t work out (I personally enjoyed it, though), but its failure has opened the door for the Simon/Paula reunion that everyone is hoping for.
    Comment by Kimmie – February 11, 2011 12:01 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - She did a reality series “Hey Paula” on Bravo, canceled after one season and a 90 minute cheerleading competition on MTV called “Rah!” that didn’t pull in enough ratings in its first episode to get a return engagement. And now, LTD.
    Comment by Pat – February 11, 2011 12:51 PM PDT Reply To This Post
    - Actually her Cheerleading show was meant to be a one episode show not a series and “Hey Paula” was shot during her Idol days so she has only done 1 show since Idol “Live to Dance”.
      Comment by Kee – February 19, 2011 07:17 PM PDT Reply To This Post
- I didn’t even know her cheerleading show ever got off the ground.
  Comment by Kimmie – February 11, 2011 12:03 PM PDT Reply To This Post
X Factor may be more in line with what Paula likes to do (i.e. mentor contestants). She would be responsible for choosing, staging and song selection for one of the categories in XFactor (Girls, Boys, Groups. Over 28′s).
Comment by Jay – February 11, 2011 11:24 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- She was excellent at mentoring on LTD!
  Comment by Margie – February 12, 2011 08:39 AM PDT Reply To This Post
No surprise that it’s not getting a second season…this show was a huge joke. It started out promisingly enough but the extreme pandering to the very young and very old contestants while watching the truly talented get weeded out was absurd. I DVr’ed the finale but once I found out that the two most talented groups (Twitch & Dance Town Chaos) were out in the first 10 minutes I fast forwarded all the way to the end. At least that horrible Kendall Glover didn’t win but once again it was an example of what happens when “America” votes. Cute triumphs over talent.
Comment by Barry – February 11, 2011 02:35 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I wanted to like this show as I adore all the dance shows on TV but it was awful. It was like America’s Got Talent but without the fun. The judges were boring, the staging was awful. I gave up two weeks in.
Comment by Cynthia – February 11, 2011 03:41 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I can’t believe anyone thought yet another amateur dancing show would hold the attention of a large audience. We’re getting choked with talent shows on TV now anyway.
Comment by Carthy – February 11, 2011 06:28 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I would love to see Paula reunited with Simon. I love their chemistry.
Comment by Carlito – February 12, 2011 03:54 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I would too. I don’t think it would be a mistake or seem like a “cheap rehash” of AI like someone else called it. I think obviously people are losing interest in idol, and you can tell by the plummeting ratings this year. Paula and Simon together again would crush AI in the ratings. (Although X factor would be in the fall, so not exactly but you see what I mean.) Paula would be great on XF. There were things about her show beyond her control that made it unsuccessful like the bad time slot, and Obama’s speech screwed up one of the very few episodes so no one was able to find it. It wasn’t because people don’t like her. they do!
  Comment by Bethany – February 24, 2011 03:16 PM PDT Reply To This Post

Paula Abdul's Dance Card Empty — Will She Reunite with Simon?

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