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 Paula Abdul is unhappy. And unless the producers of “American Idol” change her frown to a smile soon, she’ll dance like there’s no tomorrow away from TV’s No. 1 show.

“Very sadly, it does not appear that she’s going to be back on ‘Idol,’ ” David Sonenberg, Abdul’s manager, told The Times when contacted about the judge’s contract negotiations.

With auditions for the ninth season due to start Aug. 6, Sonenberg says he doesn’t even have a proposal for a new contract from FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, the production companies behind the show. The new season is scheduled to premiere in January.

“I find it under these circumstances particularly unusual; I think unnecessarily hurtful,” he said of the contract holdup. “I find it kind of unconscionable and certainly rude and disrespectful that they haven’t stepped up and said what they want to do.”

[Updated at 11:59 p.m.: Sonenberg began managing Abdul at the end of June, he said. According to him, he has "reached out to the head of business affairs at 19" and told Fox that "Paula would love to be on the show." He said Fox told him he would hear from them, but "I have not received any proposal whatsoever."]

Representatives for Fremantle, 19 and Fox all separately declined to comment.


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