SIMON COWELL - COWELL BLAMES 'MAD' ABDUL FOR CLASHES

SIMON COWELL has blamed fellow AMERICAN IDOL panellist PAULA ABDUL for the string of rows on the TV talent show - because she's "mad". Outspoken Cowell insists the diverse combination of judges - producer RANDY JACKSON, artist Abdul and himself, a record company mogul - ensures a volatile show, but he singles Abdul out at the most temperamental of the three. He says, "Producers are, by nature, optimistic people. Record company people are cynical. And artists are just...mad. "So maybe that's why you have different opinions on the show."