'American Idol' fixed?

'American Idol' chatter four-sees finalists

Aside from Paula Abdul, the producers of “American Idol” have one more loudmouth to deal with on the set.

One of the hit show’s staffers is running around telling anyone who’ll listen that the team of producers and judges has already picked the final four contestants — despite the fact that 11 kids are still battling to be the latest pop star.

The female “AI” worker told a “group of people that the last four are going to be Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, Adam Lambert and Alexis Grace,” said our insider. Asked if this was opinion or actual fact, the staffer vehemently retorted, “Those ARE the people,” saying it wasn’t mere speculation.

If it was just her prediction, she’d be spot-on with this week’s TV Guide, which also chose those exact four wanna-be crooners as its picks for stardom.

But the lass took it a step further, claiming that higher-ups at the hit Fox show were taking an issue with two of the top contenders.

“Adam Lambert and Lil Rounds are better singers and musicians than Gokey and Grace, but they’re too much like past winners and ‘A’ successes,” the woman said. “Adam’s too close in style and sound to Chris Daughtry, while Lil Rounds is a dead ringer for Fantasia. Even their background stories are similar!

“The producers really want it to be Danny or Alexis. They think they’re very commercially viable, have a good image and a great story.”

Gokey’s sorrowful story of the death of his wife, Sophia, during heart surgery a month before his audition is “a huge reason viewers are tuning in,” said the staffer. “Fox likes the attention that he’s getting, and they’ve taken to giving Danny much more airtime as a result.”

While Fox’s reps had no comment on the allegations, another TV insider told us, “It’d
be very hard to manipulate the entire final four. Sure, the judges get one vote to save someone, but that’s before the top five, so theoretically, it’s just delaying the inevitable.

“There’d have to be so many people lying for them to pull something like this off — so I doubt it’s true.”

Fan of Paula Abdul found dead near TV star's home

An obsessed fan of judge Paula Abdul has been found dead of an apparent suicide near the pop star's home.

Police said they discovered the body of Paula Goodspeed, 30, in a car near Abdul's Los Angeles home on Tuesday night.

"It appears to be a suicide by overdose," said Detective Robert Bub of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Investigators found prescription drugs in Goodspeed's car, along with Abdul CDs and pictures of the pop singer, Bub said.

Abdul said in a statement that she was "deeply shocked and saddened" by Goodspeed's death, and that her "heart and prayers go out to her family."

In 2005, Goodspeed auditioned for "American Idol," which lures about 30 million viewers per week, and said on the program that she had long been a fan of Abdul and had made life-size drawings of the pop star since childhood.

Goodspeed sang the Tina Turner hit song "Proud Mary," but the judges all gave her bad reviews, with Simon Cowell calling attention to braces in her mouth and saying he did not know how anyone could sing with "that much metal."

Goodspeed was from a suburb northwest of Los Angeles, and a close relative had reported her missing to local authorities, said Capt. Ross Bonfiglio, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

She showed "a fixation, an obsession -- whatever you want -- with Paula Abdul," and had a history of mental illness, Bonfiglio said. The relative who reported her missing told authorities Goodspeed could try to overdose, he said.

Abdul, a pop singer, has been a judge on the reality talent show "American Idol" since its first season in 2002.