“American Idol” judge Paula Abdul has opened up about the effect her dependence on painkillers had on her life, after her sometimes erratic behavior on the show and in television interviews has caused many commentators to say she at times appeared to be under the influence.

In an interview with Ladies Home Journal posted on the magazine’s Web site on Tuesday, Abdul said that for the first time in a dozen years she is no longer dependent on medication, after checking into a California resort last fall to wean herself of the medication.

“I could have killed myself … Withdrawal — it’s the worst thing,” Abdul told the magazine. “I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating.”

Abdul, 46, said she suffered a series of a injuries that caused her lingering pain, including an accident when she was a 17-year-old cheerleader, before going on to pop star fame in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Abdul suffered a broken leg from a stage routine gone wrong, a car collision and an airplane crash into an Iowa cornfield. She told the magazine she began taking painkillers and Chinese medicine to keep up with her performance schedule.

“I didn’t want anyone to count me out,” she said. “I tried to keep everything hush-hush.”

Adbul admitted to the magazine that the pain made her “get weird.” Her admission differed from past interviews she has given. The pop star told ABC News program “Nightline” last month that she has never abused prescription drugs. In 2007 on NBC program “Today,” co-anchor Matt Lauer asked if she had been addicted to painkillers.

“I’ve never been addicted to painkillers,” Abdul told Lauer. “Painkillers don’t work for me.”

Abdul is expected to perform her single “I’m Just (Here for the Music)” on the “Idol” results show on Wednesday.

In other “Idol” news on Tuesday, the show’s alpha judge Simon Cowell said on TV chat program “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that Kara DioGuardi, a new judge to the panel this season, will return next season. DioGuardi had said as recently as last week that she was not sure of her future on the show, telling TV Guide Magazine, “I’m only here for one season. That’s what we have discussed. So we’ll see what happens. Hopefully they’ll keep me on.”

At the time, Cowell was non-committal about DioGuardi’s future, telling TV Guide only that he would not appear on the show without host Ryan Seacrest and fellow panelists Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, and conspicuously not mentioning DioGuardi. Despite the possible change of heart, Cowell is still complaining that the addition of DioGuardi as the fourth judge slows down the show.

On “American Idol,” it appears to be a man’s world after all.

It’s no secret that male contestants like Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey have trounced their female counterparts in the singing competition since early this season. And, with just one woman in the show’s Top 5, viewers on Tuesday night were left wondering if the final four contestants would all be men for the first time in “Idol” history.

It’s been a long time since two women — Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo — competed for the “Idol” title in the finale of the show’s third season in 2004. 

Not that the show’s surviving female contestant performed badly on Tuesday night. Allison Iraheta, who turned 17 this week, won major praise from judges Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul for her performance of “Someone to Watch Over Me.” DioGuardi even said she could see the Los Angeles teen in the finals.

“Bad cop” judge Simon Cowell, however, said he thought Iraheta still lacked the belief that she could win the competition, and was at risk of being voted off this week.

“I have a horrible feeling you could be in trouble tonight,” Cowell said, as his fellow judges vehemently disagreed.

Having been among the show’s Bottom Three vote-getters on three occasions so far this season, it’s questionable whether Allison has the fan base to catapult her to the top two.

And, let’s face it, her competition is fierce. Really fierce.

On Tuesday night, Cowell said both Gokey and Lambert proved during Rat Pack Standards Week that they were in the competition to win it, and he also called Matt Giraud’s rendition ”brilliant.” Cowell was less enamored with Kris Allen, but DioGuardi effusively labeled him “a dark horse.”

The dearth of female contestants also comes as Cowell has complained stridently about Abdul and DioGuardi eating up time when the judges review singers.

“Girls do tend to talk a little bit more than guys. Randy’s quick, and I don’t say too much. But my God, these two!” Cowell told US Weekly Magazine.  

Just to keep “Idol” fans scratching their heads, Cowell also told the magazine that he and Abdul were really “secretly in love with each other.” Isn’t this the same Simon who snaps at Paula every chance he gets?

So is Simon really frustrated with the show’s female judges, or is he just pushing their buttons? Are his criticisms fair? And how do you feel about the lack of female contestants at this late stage in the competition?

Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai sang their swan songs Wednesday night on “American Idol,” meaning the singing competition lost its two most uniquely named contestants in one fell swoop.

Nostalgia for “Little” and “Anoop Dogg” aside, their joint offing was hardly unexpected. Lil, a 23-year-old mother of three from Memphis, struggled to gain the judges’ respect through most of her time in the show’s Top 13. Desai, a 21-year-old from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, meanwhile, was among the show’s Bottom Three vote-getters for four straight weeks.

Now, the show is down to five singers, and the big question is which two will make it to the season finale. Adam Lambert has emerged as the frontrunner, but who could challenge him?

Allison Iraheta’s chances appear slim, after having thrice landed in the Bottom Three, including this week. She is also by far the show’s youngest contestant, at just 16. But could Allison benefit from being the only woman left standing?

Matt Giraud also seems unlikely to make it, having been eliminated from the show twice already by viewers (and each time saved by the judges) — once in the Top 36, and once last week. The fact that he is still around, however, means he must have something going for him. He could prove to have nine lives, after all.

Kris Allen, the show’s “pretty boy” contestant, is a big hit with women viewers. The guitar-strumming Arkansan’s performances, however, have also won huge praise from the judges nearly every week. To use an “Idol” word, he could be among the most “commercial” of the remaining contestants.

Danny Gokey, like Lambert, has been a frontrunner since his first “Idol” audition in Kansas City. The widower and church choir director, whose personal story has pulled at viewers’ heartstrings, is also considered among the best vocalists left in the competition.

And far be it for us to assume that Lambert is a shoo-in for the finale, an outcome predicted by judge Paula Abdul this week. Some of his performances were deemed too over-the-top, at least by judge Simon Cowell. Could the viewers agree?

Before he went on stage, the camera swooped down on “American Idol” contestant Adam Lambert as he stood beaming in the crowd. But as usual, Lambert was more than just a face in the crowd on Tuesday night, as he again wowed the judges and solidified his frontrunner status.

It was Disco Week on “Idol,” and true to the theme Lambert sang the Bee Gees hit “If I Can’t Have You,” effortlessly hitting the high notes and inspiring judge Paula Abdul to gush that his performance made her feel his “pain.” Abdul was not alone. All the judges said they loved the performance, with alpha judge Simon Cowell commending Lambert for surprising him by picking a Bee Gees song.

“I would have put $10,000 you were going to do Donna Summer, but that’s what’s so good about you, you did something we weren’t expecting,” Cowell said.

Speaking of betting, it seems the smart money is on Lambert. Online betting firm BookMaker.com, which usually confines itself to sports gambling, said on Tuesday that the “Idol” title appears to be Lambert’s to lose, if he does not slip up.

At the other end of the spectrum, embattled singer Lil Rounds continued to leave the judges unimpressed. She sang the Chaka Khan hit “I’m Every Woman,” and although her performance was energetic and confident, judge Randy Jackson faulted her for a lack of vocal control. Lil said that she had a good time with the song, which only gave Cowell an opening to tear her down.

“I’m glad you had fun, because I think this is going to be the last week we’re ever going to see you,” Cowell said.

Cowell had a similarly biting critique for Anoop Desai’s version of the Donna Summer song “Dim All the Lights.”

“It was a horrible version of that song, and in my opinion, genuinely that was your worst performance by a mile,” Cowell said.

With a completely different take, judge Kara DioGuardi told Desai he has been at the top of his game the past couple of weeks, even though the voters put him in the Bottom Three for each of the past three weeks.

Allison Iraheta continued to hold her own with her version of “Hot Stuff,” another Donna Summer hit. Cowell called the slowed-down rendition “brilliant” and Jackson said the 16-year-old Iraheta was one of the best singers in the competition.

Matt Giraud, who was saved from elimination by the judges last week, sang the appropriately-chosen Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive,” a disco-era hallmark. The judges gave him mostly positive reviews, as they did for Danny Gokey’s rendition of “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

Judge Paula Abdul saved her best comment for contestant Kris Allen, who sang yet another Donna Summer song, “She Works Hard for the Money.” Allen gave a new twist to what is a very feminine song, bringing the band on stage with him and performing the tune with an acoustic flavor.

“A lot of women are known to shop in the mens’ department, but there aren’t many men that are willing to shop in the womens’ (department),” Abdul said. “I’ve got to tell you that you shopped and you found a perfect fit.”

Which contestants were a perfect fit for the audience on Tuesday night? And which two will get the axe tomorrow night? Will the disco ball finally come down on Lil Round’s “Idol” dreams, or will the audience ignore the judges’ criticism of her and give the Memphis mom another chance?

“American Idol” judge Paula Abdul is on the bubble at the show. Her contract ends after this season, and it remains unclear if she will come back next year.

Abdul, who is widely considered “Idol’s” least harsh judge, was asked by ABC News show “Nightline” whether Kara DioGuardi, who joined the show this season as the new fourth judge, could replace her on the show.

“I don’t think anyone (can),” Abdul told “Nightline,” in an interview airing on Thursday night. ”First of all, Kara says, ‘I could never replace you.’ And I said whenever there is change, it’s not about replacing anybody, it’s about possibly moving on.”

A video clip of the interview can be found at  http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7392520

So will Abdul move on? She did not say exactly, telling “Nightline” only that she is having more fun on the show this season than ever before. And Abdul said that she and DioGuardi are friends.

Despite that, the two exchanged dueling statements in the media a couple months ago, when Abdul told a celebrity magazine that having four judges instead of three is not the best fit for the show, and DioGuardi responded that she was “disappointed” in the comment.

The four-judge format does not appear to be working perfectly this season. Last Tuesday, a time crunch forced the show’s producers to decree that only two judges would evaluate each performance that night, because the show ran long the week before. So if the show sometimes cannot squeeze in all the judges’ comments – especially the acerbic jibes from alpha judge Simon Cowell that tickle so many viewers – will it continue with four judges next season? And if not, who will go?

“American Idol” fans were robbed of one of the show’s biggest draws on Tuesday night, after the producers decreed that only two judges would evaluate each performance.

Calling the change “unfortunate,” judge Simon Cowell said just two judges would speak at a time because the show ran several minutes long last week. Many viewers with digital video recorders had complained because they missed the show’s final performance by Adam Lambert.

Cowell blamed the switch on “the girls” — meaning female judges Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul — whom he said spoke too much last week.

Cowell may or may not have been joking, but whatever the reason for the shift, it was the viewers who were punished. Cowell’s brutally honest comments are among the most anticipated moments of each week’s show, so when only Randy Jackson and DioGuardi gave their opinions viewers might have felt something was missing. Not to belittle DioGuardi and Jackson, but there’s a reason there are four judges, right?

Whether the show keeps the new format next week is unclear, but it does beg the question: why did producers add a fourth judge (DioGuardi) this season if there wasn’t enough time for all four opinions?

At the beginning of this season of “Idol,” the two female judges clashed publicly after Abdul complained in a magazine interview that listening to four opinions slowed the pace of the show. At the time, DioGuardi said she was disappointed by Abdul’s comment.

But was Paula right? Has four become a crowd at the judges’ table? And are you outraged or relieved by the two-judges-per-performance shift?

Earlier this week, “American Idol” judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson said on late night program “The Tonight Show” that they expect a male contestant to win the singing competition this year.

Well, they’re the experts and on Wednesday night it was male contestant Adam Lambert who brought the heat, eliciting a standing ovation from celebrity mentor Smokey Robinson for his version of “The Tracks of My Tears” (which, incidentally, Robinson also wrote).

Then, judge Kara DioGuardi stood up herself and called it “one of the best performances of the night.” Cowell himself went so far as to say it was the night’s best performance.

Unlike last week, when Lambert soured the judges during “Country Week” with an eccentric Middle Eastern-inspired version of the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire,” he sang his Motown song with a restraint that cunningly played down the soaring crescendos of Robinson’s composition. Lambert’s acoustic version of the song pleased all the judges.

But showing that women have something going for them this season, 16-year-old contestant Allison Iraheta countered with her version of “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” by The Temptations, mixing some staccato vocals with her gravelly-voiced soul.

“You sing like you’ve been singing for 400 years,” DioGuardi said, in an attempt to dispel any lingering doubts about Iraheta’s maturity. “That is from God, you can’t teach that,” the judge said.

It was Motown week on “American Idol,” and next to Motown singing legend Smokey Robinson sat the 79-year-old Berry Gordy, founder of the record label named after Detroit’s auto industry.

In an interesting segment, oil rig worker Michael Sarver went into his performance of “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations planning to “church it up,” meaning to give a soulful rendition of the song. But Robinson insisted that the man singing the song is more than just begging, he is demanding one last chance at love with his woman. Sarver seemed to perform it that way, confidently strutting across the stage, but his rendition was met with cold rebukes by all four judges.

“Michael, at this point in the competition it’s not about singing it’s about artistry,” DioGuardi said. “And I think what we’re looking for is an artist, and that’s somebody who interprets it in their own way and makes it their own,” she said, adding that she felt Sarver fell short of that standard.

The judges were also unimpressed with Scott MacIntyre’s performance of “You Can’t Hurry Love” and Lil Rounds’ rendition of “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave.”

In a childish but entertaining diversion to the night’s show,  judge Paula Abdul presented Simon Cowell with a box of crayons and a coloring book, in an apparent dig at the alpha judge. But by the end of the night, Cowell had drawn a fake mustache on Abdul.

Going back to Cowell’s prediction on “The Tonight Show,” will this season’s champion be a man or a woman? Based on Wednesday night’s performance, it seems that Iraheta will be no easy obstacle for any male contestant wanting the “Idol” crown.

Now that “American Idol” has eliminated the dross, it has 13 top contestants and the reality singing competition is in full swing.

What that means is the judges get more hyperbolic about how seriously everyone has to take the competition, and the video packages on the contestants get more personal, taking viewers into their homes and giving mini biographies on each one.

Tonight, viewers learned that blind contestant Scott MacIntyre has been that way since birth, and that his sister is also visually impaired. Lil Rounds was once forced out of her home by a tornado. Oil industry roughneck Michael Sarver was revealed to have grown up without a father. Jorge Nunez told the camera that since his grandfather died, his large family has drifted apart (even though all 40 of them still pack into the same house) and that his run on “Idol” has brought everyone together.

Because a lot of the competition on “Idol” revolves around contestants’ “likeability,” the video packages play an important part, especially if a singer has a sympathetic story.

On Tuesday’s show, “Idol” had the pop star wannabes each choose Michael Jackson songs to perform. The show’s theme was good timing for Jackson, 50, who announced his comeback on Thursday, pledging to play 10 dates in London this year after living the life of a recluse since his 2005 acquittal on charges of child abuse.

As far as the singing went, Anoop Desai became the first contestant to earn the unanimous ire of the judges with his version of “Beat It.” Even the panel’s easiest judge, Paula Abdul, took a shot at the contestant, who calls himself Anoop Dogg. “I think this song is untouchable and it belongs to the consummate artist, and anything else sounds karaoke,” Abdul said.

Simon Cowell went so far as to say that he regretted last week’s last-minute decision to keep Desai in the competition as the extra, 13th contestant.

Adam Lambert got the most praise with his version of Jackson’s 1991 song “Black or White.” Cowell said the performance was “in a totally different league” from the other singers. Randy Jackson told Lambert he could make a record immediately and “sail to the top of the charts.” Kara DioGuardi said she hoped Jackson himself was watching the performance.

With all the contestants revealing something about themselves, Cowell also revealed something about “Idol” in a frank exchange with Scott MacIntyre. When Cowell criticized MacIntyre’s choice of the song “Keep the Faith,” the contestant said he was trying to be artistic. That’s when Cowell lowered the boom.

“It’s fine being artistic, just not on this show,” Cowell said.

Now we know.

On Wednesday, two contestants will be eliminated. Who will lose out? And will it come down to the singing, or how much the video packages tug on viewers’ hearts?

Also, host Ryan Seacrest said that on Wednesday’s show a change to the show’s rules will be announced that Cowell said involves the judges in some way. “You’ve kind of changed the entire theme and concept of the show,” Seacrest said, without saying what the change was. What does “Idol” have in store? Will the judges get veto power? And why are the show’s producers tinkering with a ratings monster?

“American Idol” judges Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi appear to have a difference of opinion. Abdul, an original member of the reality talent show’s judging panel, was quoted by OK! magazine as saying that having four judges instead of three is not the best fit for the show.

“It takes up so much time for each of us to give our opinion that it slows down the pace of the show,” Abdul told the magazine.

That appears to have hit a wrong note with DioGuardi, who was added as the show’s fourth judge just this season.

So, with perfect timing, DioGuardi on Wednesday struck her own note of discord.

“Paula has a right to her opinions, but I was disappointed by her comments, and hurt that she did not address them to me in person,” DioGuardi told the celebrity news show “Access Hollywood.”

All this comes as “American Idol” enters its second round of elimination with 12 performers taking the stage on Wednesday night on Fox.

So far on camera, DioGuardi and Abdul have appeared to be getting along swimmingly, often coming off as allies, especially when a tryout contestant in a bikini (nicknamed Bikini Girl) got the panel’s two male judges humming along, but failed to impress the two ladies.

Abdul emerged as a pop star in the 1980s, and she and songwriter-producer DioGuardi even once collaborated to write a song called “Spinning Around.” Now, it appears that Abdul could be exiting ”American Idol.” Among other things, she told OK! that her contract with the show ends this season, and she has “so many other things” she wants to do.

The Fox television show “American Idol” eliminated nine contestants on Wednesday night, allowing single mother Alexis Grace, widower Danny Gokey and oil rig worker Michael Sarver to advance.

A lot of contestants went home unhappy in the show’s first voter-driven elimination round. In past seasons, 24 contestants competed for votes. But the cast was expanded to 36 this season with nine contestants eliminated in each of three opening rounds of 12 contestants. Then, another three contestants will be brought back to the show as wildcards. Aside from some complicated math, the show’s new format also means numerous contestants are eliminated early on, just as viewers are starting to get to know them. 

 Contestant Tatiana Del Toro was reduced to tears during Wednesday night’s elimination. The night before, judge Simon Cowell called Del Toro a “complete and utter drama queen” and said she was “desperate to be famous.” In the context of a show about making it big in pop music, that could be an underhanded compliment. But on Wednesday night, Del Toro’s ambitious dreams were smashed, and while other contestants smiled amiably as they were cast off, she cried.

Del Toro received some praise for her singing from the judges on Tuesday night. Other contestants who also pleased the judges included Anoop Desai and Rick Braddy. Which one of those contestants could come back during the wildcard round? Did Anoop, who goes by the nickname “Anoop Dogg” in a joking reference to the rapper Snoop Dogg, suffer from descrimination because he is of Indian descent? Or did voters choose Michael Sarver instead because his working class background made his strive for fame more appealing?