X American Idol contestant, Paula Goodspeed found dead

[Sirfixalot]

Police indicated that Goodspeed, whose rendition of "Proud Mary" was roundly criticized by Simon Cowell and rejected by Abdul and Randy Jackson, had possibly committed suicide, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. An official cause of death had not been determined.

Authorities found Goodspeed's body Tuesday evening in a car that photos show bearing the vanity license plate "ABL LV" in a Los Angeles Lakers frame. Her parents had reported her missing hours earlier and expressed concern that she might hurt herself.

Los Angeles police spokeswoman Julianne Sohn says officers responded to a call about 6 p.m. Tuesday and arrived in the Sherman Oaks area to find the body.

"I am deeply shocked and saddened at what transpired yesterday," Abdul said in a statement released by her publicist, Jeff Ballard. "My heart and prayers go out to her family."

Goodspeed's audition was aired during the season that began in January 2006. She told the show's host, Ryan Seacrest, how she was a huge fan of Abdul and created life-size paintings of the singer and former Laker Girl; she also called Abdul "beautiful" after Cowell said he noticed a resemblance between Goodspeed and Abdul.

But Cowell also made light of Goodspeed's braces and bloggers trashed her appearance, which she noted in a MySpace posting months after the show aired.

"American Idol" producer Fremantle Media North America declined comment.

[Windmill]

This is one of the reasons I backed off watching any kind of broadcast TV some years back.  They hype a show up
ram it down people's throats and give him a false sense of feeling like they have some kind of talent to go on
a show like this.

Give me the Gong Show.  At least they didn't go overboard.

Reality shows stink.

[blueyes]

I wonder if this will make the judges a little more tactful in their critiques of future contestants.