SHE left American Idol two years ago, but Paula Abdul hasn't lost her touch in picking Idol winners. The 48-year-old former Idol judge had picked latest winner Scotty McCreery, who was crowned on Wednesday, as her choice.
Abdul, who last performed here in 1992, is back for the Universal Studios Singapore grand opening at Resorts World Sentosa. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the Grammy-winning entertainer told The New Paper: "I've picked six of the previous eight winners.
"When 11 of them were left, I met them. The producers asked me to pick the winner. I picked Scotty. "I just had this feeling."Abdul performed at the event's gala dinner last night and will be at a hand-printing ceremony at the theme park this morning.
Other celebrities here for the event include Hong Kong screen icon Maggie Cheung, action star Jet Li and actress Vicki Zhao from China and American Idol 2 finalist Kimberly Caldwell. Though she had arrived only late on Thursday, Abdul showed no signs of jetlag.
The chatty star grew up in California's San Fernando Valley, just "a heartbeat away from Universal Studios". She gushed: "I love rides. Universal Studios is a staple (for my guests when they visit California). I feel like I grew up in Universal Studios."
While she hadn't toured the Sentosa theme park, she said she had requested a tour to "experience the whole aspect". A respected dancer and choreographer, Abdul won a Grammy for Best Music Video - Short Form in 1991 for her hit song Opposites Attract (1989) and an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography in 1988 and 1989.
Mentoring: Since leaving Idol after eight seasons, she has mentored aspiring dancers in US reality TV dancing competition Live To Dance, where she was also executive producer.
The show was cancelled in early February after one season because of low ratings. She sees herself as a role model. "I enjoy being a role model. I've been a teacher pretty much my whole adulthood," she said. "Inspiring and helping other people live out their dreams have been a wonderful aspect of my career."
But if reports are to be believed, Abdul and UK singer Cheryl Cole have been said to "lack chemistry" while filming upcoming reality TV singing contest The X Factor USA.
This is allegedly one reason Cole was reportedly sacked from the show two days ago, just a fortnight after she was announced as one of its judges. Abdul, ex-Idol judge and The X Factor creator Simon Cowell and US music mogul L A Reid are on the judging panel.
There's no word about Cole's exit yet from Fox, the US TV network airing the show, nor Cole, who is said to be back in the UK. When asked about the matter at the press conference, Abdul claimed she didn't know about Cole's reported exit.
"This is all news to me...I don't know whether it's true. (Being 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles) has been challenging to get information. "All I can tell you is that she is lovely. I was really excited about the friendship we were forging. She's wonderful."
Ex-Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, the show's host, is said to have replaced Cole. TV viewers will undoubtedly look forward to the reunion of Abdul and Cowell, whose frequent heated exchanges on Idol drew as many viewers as Idol finalists did.
And even though she's more than 14,000km from Los Angeles, Abdul couldn't resist taking a jibe at her fellow judge. When asked about her secret to staying youthful, she quipped: "Sit next to Simon Cowell and you'll always look younger andprettier."