hey, hey paula...

Now you gone and done it. After lamenting the fact that this season's Idol has been virtually free of headline-making controversy, our favorite loopy judge goes and stirs (or was that slurs or was that smokes) the pot, by condeming a performance that hadn't even occurred yet.

The conspiracy theorists are having a field day. The Betty Ford Center is on standby. Ryan Seacrest is doing damage control. And the rest of us are just left shaking our heads.

After all, this is not the first time Paula Abdul's behavior has had us scratching our heads. But this is the first time she's put a contestant at risk, put the show's credibility at risk and, certainly, put herself in one major pile of poop.

Now she is saying she did catch Jason Castro's second song, September Morn, during dress rehearsal and, since the show was running short and she got caught by surprise by having to give a first-round critique, between the notes and her recollection, well, she just got perplexed.

Hey Paula, you were reading your notes about Castro's second song. And you specifically called out his second song, including the quote, "the two songs made me feel like you're not fighting hard enough to get into the top four." Did you take the notes during the rehearsal? Were you even paying attention during the show?

But that's her explanation. Others are not so convinced.

Some think there's nothing to look at here, just crazy Paula who might need a rest from judging. Like, permanently.

Some are convinced that Nigel and Company provided Ms. Abdul with pre-scripted reviews, and, in Idol land, and the universe of Paula, all is not necessarily as it appears.

But one thing is for certain. Last week Paula ripped Brooke White a new one for unprofessionally starting and stopping. I agreed with Paula then. I agree with Paula now.

If you can't handle the pressure of live television, if you can't handle the curves thrown at you during the course of it, if you can't do a one-hour job that you get paid a gazillion dollars to do, maybe it's time for a refresher course in professionalism.

I love Paula's blatherings about shoes and clothes and essences and coconuts, but this was the gaffe heard around the world. And regardless of the reasons, this Sylvia Browne moment has cast a shadow on the legitimacy of the show, far more dark than a thousand Corey Clarks could ever do.