Idol Watch by Anne Neville

Bratz to Paula: "We're going to have to pass"

Paula Abdul was supposed to be involved with the new "Bratz" movie, to be released Aug. 3. She was originally set to work as an executive producer, play a character, and help with choreography, music and costuming.

Then, bam. Check out this clip from the regrettable reality show "Hey Paula" here. "The most hideous experience for me to go through," she slurs after learning via email that she won't be needed. (This part is so hard to understand that it's subtitled.) Cleaned up, sobered up, rested, or however you want to describe it, as she comments on her meltdown, she asks seriously, "Where is God when you need him?"

According to MTV.com, some of Abdul's near-co-stars still maintain that she dropped the project due to a scheduling conflict.

Sanjaya on the road

TMZ.com has posted 31 seconds of video of Sanjaya singing during the Idol tour. I'll take their word for it that he forgets the words and runs out of breath mid-performance, because the sound is pretty poor.

Chris Sligh's also on stage, accompanying Sanjaya on guitar.

"The haters made my fans stronger," Sanjaya says in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. He also says, mysteriously, "I have a huge, loud Italian family. When you've been on TV, they're loud and Italian to you and about you. It's definitely interesting, to say the least." Adds the Chronicle writer, "Yes, he said Italian."

Speaking of the tour, is anybody going to Toronto (Aug.14) or Rochester (Aug. 23) to see it?

Aiken: "beaten up by a girl"

Clay Aiken's people weren't commenting on a spat he got into Saturday morning with female passenger on a flight into Tulsa, but he told the crowd at his concert that night that he'd been beaten up by a girl that day.

Today's Daily Dish reports the incident, which resulted in both Aiken and the unnamed air rage woman being questioned by the FBI.

The dispute, which started over Aiken putting his foot on the woman's armrest, ended when flight attendants intervened, but not before the woman gave Aiken what was described as a "minor shove."

Personally, I'd let Chris Daughtry put his foot on my armrest anytime, but I wouldn't let Clay get away with it, either.