Paula Abdul says the darndest things

Paula Abdul, on the end of “American Idol’s” eighth season, and the start of her contract negotiations:

“I stay out of the negotiation area, and I let my people handle that because I have to stay focused on being an artist and doing what I do best,” she told The Times. “I love my job. And I’m having my best time ever this season. And you know what? As long as I’m having fun, loving what I’m doing, everything will work itself out.”  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Paula Abdul on her work ethic:

“Here’s the thing with me,” she told The Times. “If you think 20 years ago, I was a Laker girl and having a No.1 single with ‘Straight Up,’ and choreographing from 7:30 in the morning till 1 p.m. at ‘The Tracey Ullman Show.’ Then I’d leave my assistant there and go down to Universal Studios and work on the George Michael ‘Faith’ tour, while two doors down I’d be working on the Jackson reunion tour. Then I’d go into the studio at midnight while at 5 a.m. I’d pull into the Fox parking lot and sleep for a couple of hours. I thrive on that. I do lots of things, and I feel like I’m circling back to where all the magic happened.”  (John Bazemore / Associated Press)

Paula Abdul’s Fourth of July advice, posted on Twitter this year:

“Hope everyone is enjoying their pool parties and bbq’s! Have a safe holiday and remember to keep your pets inside so they don’t get scared!”  (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

During an April 2008 “American Idol” show, the judges were asked to give quick assessments after each of the two songs the contestants were asked to sing. Each judge gave short reviews of the first song, but when it came to Paula, she told contestant Jason Castro she liked the first song, then said:

“The second song, I felt like your usual charm, it was missing for me. It kind of left me a little empty. And the two songs, it made me feel like you’re not fighting hard enough to get into the Top 4.”

“You’re seeing the future, baby,” Seacrest responded.   (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Paula Abdul’s infamous January 2007 morning-show satellite interview with a FOX affiliate in Seattle was full of curious quotes. At one point, a reporter asked Paula what she was looking forward to about the upcoming season of “American Idol.”

“How ‘bout a lot o’ you comin’ in? It’s a wild party where you are.”  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

When the same Seattle correspondent asked Paula Abdul why she thought “American Idol” auditions in Seattle were so weak, Abdul’s response ruffled a few feathers.

“You know what they say -- listen -- any publicity is good publicity. You gotta learn to eat it up and embrace it and say, ‘Seattle had the best delusional people.’”  (Gregg DeGuire / WireImage)

In a jewelry ad on QVC in 2006, Paula Abdul showed off a piece from her jewelry line:

“And it’s just a nice piece to wear. You can wear it with a shirt, a suit, and, ya know, you can wear it around your jeans in -- into the area of your ...”

“In the belt loops,” offered the interviewer.

“In your belt loops,” Abdul replied.  (Nekesa Moody / Associated Press)

Paula Abdul fumbled for words as she described her jewelry line in her QVC ad.

“Everything that you see -- you’ve all worn me -- you, ‘you’ve all worn me!’ -- seen -- you’ve all seen me wearing the exact jewelry.”  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)