Paula Abdul Reality Show: "Hey Paula" Stick to American Idol
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By Heather Kobrin
Jul 2, 2007
I like Paula Abdul, I really do. I mean, who doesn't? Between the irresistible hooks of her hits from the '80s, and her consistently positive attitude on "American Idol," she's hard not to like. Nevertheless, due to her increasingly bizarre on-air behavior, Abdul's received more than her share of bad press recently. So it's no surprise that her team greenlit a reality show about her life, in order to show the "truth" behind the whispers.
Paula Abdul Reality Show: "Hey Paula" Stick to American Idol
The only problem is that Brav'’s resulting "Hey Paula” does little to serve that purpose.
Keep in mind that the primary appeal of the celebrity reality show is the chance for fans to gain insight into whom the celebrity truly is behind the public façade. However with the premiere episode of “Hey Paula,” most of Abdul’s dialogue seems to have been written for her (“I’m just like everyone else, I have good days and bad days,”) even her jokes, (“The last time I had a hit record, Bill and Hillary were having Tree.”)
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Instead of showing viewers her reality, the show has Abdul playing to the camera, such as in a segment where she walks the streets in a Valentino gown, looking for her purportedly “lost” limo as fans call out to her. Or when she summons her maid into the room for a hug and kiss and tells her that she loves her. Of course, with any “reality” show, a fair portion of what airs is at least somewhat scripted, but when the action is so obviously made-to-order, it gets tiresome.
During the rare moments when the show doesn’t appear to be overly fabricated, Abdul is painted as a hard-working, dramatic diva, who’s kind to her fans, and tough on her well-meaning but disorganized assistants. A fair amount of the first episode is spent detailing the drama around her assistants’ unacceptable packing job for a flight to Philadelphia. Abdul is flying there for a 1:00 a.m. appearance on QVC to hawk her jewelry collection, and she needs to sleep.
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In order to do so, she requires comfortable sweat pants and white tennis shoes. Unfortunately, the assistants have packed tight jeans and black tennis shoes, resulting in an exasperated Abdul asking, “Why these pants?” after which she directs a frustrated “Can you freakin’ believe this?” to the camera. Once at QVC, Abdul is unsatisfied with the jewelry designs, as they don’t match the examples she was shown earlier. “This is exhausting,” she tells the camera. Yeah. Life is hard.
But okay, let’s give Paula a break. She’s a celebrity, and, like most, she has a team of sycophants praising her every move. So I can excuse some diva-like behavior, because she probably knows nothing else. However, what I can’t excuse is a boring reality show, which is what we have here. Besides the riveting packing drama, the most interesting moment of the premiere is when one of Abdul’s four Chihuahuas almost makes off with a diamond ring in its mouth. (I’m sure the jeweler who lent the piece really enjoyed that bit.)
