Idol's Post-Paula Plan: Guest Judges For Now, A Replacement to Come

Seconds ago, during the Fox TCA executive session, new network entertainment chairman Peter Rice announced that Paula Abdul will not be returning to "American Idol," and outlined the network's interim plans until a replacement judge can be found.

"We have concluded our negotiation and Paula is not coming back," said Rice, somewhat definitively, so take that with whatever size grain of salt you want.

With the seven-week audition process about to begin, Rice says the plan is to have a different celebrity guest judge at each audition city. So far, Katy Perry and Victoria Beckham have been confirmed, with more announcements to follow in the coming days.

Rice says none of the guest judges are being tapped as potential replacements, citing the fact that some — such as Perry — may not even be available, what with that whole successful music career thing she's got going on. "We have from now until January" to find a replacement, says Rice, and he emphasizes that they need to cast the role very carefully in order to bring a "different energy" to the show and ensure the chemistry and inter-judge interaction works out. "That's a very complex piece of producing," says Rice.

I'm still of the belief that this whole thing is negotiation posturing on both sides, and that Paula will ultimately be back, if this turns out not to be the case, a replacement judge will be found in time for the season-nine premiere in January. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the guest judges will be, like the contestants, auditioning for the job of Paula's replacement during their guest stints, so expect further announcements to come.