Paula Abdul has lost her mind

As Distephano put it: "This woman IS mad" ... lol ...

Below is a repost-repaste from an MSN entertainment gossip site.

Paula's Close Call?

Perhaps it's post-traumatic stress from dancing alongside MC Skat Kat. Or maybe it's some sort of complication from all the Sea World-style clapping. Either way, Paula Abdul's sometimes discombobulated behavior this season on "American Idol" has raised many an eyebrow, but did it nearly get her canned?

Us Weekly says the ego-boosting, thesaurus-needing judge recently came thisclose to losing her cushy gig parroting the critiques of Randy Jackson and shushing Simon Cowell, with two blond pop starlets pondered as replacements.

"Paula was being very difficult," an insider tells the magazine, " ... crying all the time and arriving late for meetings."

The situation allegedly hit critical mass on March 3, with Abdul seeing her doctor for "dehydration and exhaustion," a visit that came just one day after she made several head-scratching statements during the show.

Not only did she chock up the dismal showing of two contestants by saying, "Simon says one of them ate pizza and the other one ate salad," but later, as two more prospective Idols anxiously awaited their fate, she let loose with a purported Cowell-ism involving a fortune cookie, a moth, a cornflake and a melon.

How out-there was her outburst? It prompted Ryan Seacrest to chastise, "Let's act like adults."

According to the magazine, producers contemplated tapping Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson as a possible fill-in, but didn't end up sitting down with either, instead opting to stick with Abdul.

Paula's rep, however, pooh-poohs talk that she was nearly kicked to the curb, insisting to Us, "Paula is always a joy on the set and everyone loves her. If they were looking at Britney or Jessica, that's news to me."

In more positive Abdul news, she apparently no longer needs Dr. Phil to find her a man. People reports she's started seeing karate champ-turned-actor Tony Schiena, whom she was arm-in-arm with at an L.A. boutique opening last week.

But Abdul's busy publicist tells the mag they're "just friends," with Schiena's mouthpiece echoing the pal angle, saying their "friendship" began about a year ago.

"Simon says one of them ate pizza and the other one ate salad."