AMERICAN IDOL - FOX DEFENDS ABDUL TV APPEARANCE

LATEST: Bosses at Fox have leaped to the defence of singer-turned-AMERICAN IDOL judge PAULA ABDUL, insisting her bizarre appearance on a Seattle morning news show was the result of technical difficulties. Videos of the incident - showing Abdul mixing up her words and bizarrely gesticulating - surfaced on online file sharing site YouTube on Thursday (11JAN07), prompting speculation alcohol or medication were to blame. However, the network maintains she acted soberly and professionally under extremely difficult studio circumstances. In a statement bosses say, "All of us at Fox have tremendous respect and admiration for Paula Abdul. She is a consummate professional who always gives 100 per cent to everything she does. "Last week, during a satellite press tour there were intermittent technical difficulties, including severe audio issues in which multiple stations were speaking to her at once. "Rather than getting angry about these difficulties, or stopping the tour, Paula forged ahead and decided to have fun with the increasingly challenging situation. Unfortunately, because reporters and viewers were unaware of the situation, her humour was misconstrued."