For the past eight seasons, Simon Cowell has ridiculed, rolled his eyes and kicked auditioners while they were down and until last night, Paula was along side him often trying to make people feel a little better by dancing and singing along, hugging people and even complimenting them on their bizarre outfits.

Did Tuesday night’s ninth premiere had a big hole in it? Was American Idol missing Paula? Or, were we? The first night of post-Abdul numbers were a decent 29.8 million without any significant drop in audience tune-in. Maybe Simon stole the spotlight with his own departure. Judge Randy Jackson comments through MTV that whether or not Ms. Abdul returns to American Idol (which is highly unlikely), he’s sure that she’ll land on her feet because she’s mad talented.