Paula Abdul Slammed By Suicide Victim’s Family

November 14. 2008

Paula Abdul

The family of Paula Goodspeed, the American Idol contestant that was mercilessly mocked on the show and later committed suicide, is blaming Paula Abdul for her death. Many people online blame the show for Goodspeed’s death, while some don’t. I certainly think they were a major factor.

The comments the judges make on American Idol are not constructive, but cruel and caustic for effect on television. Simon’s nickname is after all “Mr. Nasty.”

Isn't that Cruella Deville's coat

You have vulnerable hopefuls wanting to be famous, getting brutally cut down in a terrible manner, by a panel that erroneously thinks it’s God’s gift to music.

To turn such venom on people that really don’t deserve it was setting the stage for trouble. Something bad was bound to happen and it is my hope that no one else takes the terrible path that Goodspeed did in ending her life.

While, I disagree with the claims that she was not a stalker, as technically, she later met the criteria via regularly setting up camp outside Abdul’s home, I think the whole thing could have been handled much better than it was. She was clearly troubled, almost overdosing once before outside Abdul’s house.

I think Simon and Paula’s words sent her on a downward spiral and she did not get over the shock of her brutal, humiliating audition on the show.

Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul

For those of you calling Paula Goodspeed crazy, you need to remember that half of Hollywood is insane. For further reference see the Anthony Pellicano case, Madonna the insane list maker on any given day or Britney "Kojack" Spears when she’s off her meds.

I will state this - while I do not have the qualifications of an American Idol judge, as I can sing with a voice that spans several octaves *looks at Paula Abdul* and was trained by my dad in music history and music appreciation, a man who is one of the most respected musicologists in the world *looks at Simon Cowell* and only use the world “dog” when actually referring to the 4 legged animal or Madonna *looks at Randy Jackson* I saw some photos of Paula Goodspeed on a news website wearing her designs and she reminded me of Betsey Johnson with her eccentric fashion sense. Maybe that could have been an avenue for her.

Paula Goodspeed

The problem was Goodspeed chose a song for her audition that was not the best for her voice. Trying to belt out a song like “Proud Mary” full range is difficult for many.

Contestants clearly go in there with the belief that they must impress the judges by singing as loudly as possible, with as much force as they can muster. That’s not a good idea. The voice may crack or bleat, you know, like Rihanna.

Goodspeed needed more vocal training. She also had a look that with some assistance would have been very polished and photogenic.

The judges on American Idol aren’t thinking like that. They want you to come in there looking and sounding like a star or they’ll cut you down on live TV, when most celebrities don’t start off looking and sounding that way.

I used to love the television show “Star Search” when I was a kid. Ed McMahon made jokes about contestants, but it was lighthearted banter – not the America Idol standard fare of, you’re-horrible-get-out-of-here.

But these contestants go to Hollywood with the mistake of thinking they are fair-minded and decent. They’re not. Hollywood is not Small Town, USA. Hollywood the industry is a terrible place not fit for good people.

SUICIDE IDOL'S BRO RIPS PAULA - BLAMES STAR IN FAN'S DECLINE

BLUE NOTE: The overdose death of an obsessed "American Idol" reject, inside a car parked outside Paula Abdul's LA home, made headlines in The Post yesterday.

The brother of the Paula Abdul-obsessed "American Idol" reject who OD'd outside the star's LA home is blaming Abdul for crushing his sister's dreams and sending her on a downward spiral.

Paula Goodspeed, 30, had withered away to just 78 pounds at the sad end of her life, brought on by eating disorders and a broken Hollywood heart, her brother, Charles McIntyre, told The Post yesterday.

Although the grieving sibling disputed tentative police reports that Goodspeed committed suicide in her car, McIntyre said his sister's "Idol" tryout in 2005 crushed her dreams of stardom.

Goodspeed auditioned for Season 5 of the hit Fox reality show, and her train-wreck performance of "Proud Mary" brought jeers and cutting comments from the three "Idol" judges.

"[Abdul] didn't speak up for her. She let everyone take her down," McIntyre told The Post from his home in Maine.

"She [Abdul] said she was 'speechless,' when she could have said something in her defense."

Earlier in that "Idol" episode, Goodspeed showed off life-size drawings she had made of Abdul and professed her admiration for the former Laker Girl.

Abdul was the most kind-hearted of the judges. Randy Jackson called Goodspeed's performance "terrible," and Simon Cowell mocked the singer's orthodontic braces.

But Goodspeed looked confused and ultimately crushed when Abdul, her own idol, said she was "speechless" and explained that that was not "not a great thing" as she panned her performance. Jackson and Cowell's comments sent her over the edge.

In a post-tryout interview her first comment was, "He can go f- - - himself," referring to the abrasive Cowell. He had said he didn't know how she could sing with "all that metal in her mouth."

"I think Simon went way too far, I mean talking about her braces," McIntyre, 36, fumed yesterday. "That was just uncalled for."…

http://www.nypost.com