'Idol' Judge Votes To Resume Singing

Paula Abdul says it's too early to pick a front-runner in "American Idol," but "the top 10 this season could be better than all the previous seasons combined."

The 45-year-old "Idol" judge held court last week with a telephone conference in which she discussed the current season of the Fox hit and her plans to return to recording and performing.

She says the "Idol" field is wide open, and for the first time in the show's history, she and her fellow judges can't even begin to predict who might take the prize.

"There are some definite standouts," she says. "You can't deny David Archuleta and Jason Castro's magic. And Michael Johns, and Alaina Whitaker and Ramiele Malubay and Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson ... I would be crushed to lose any of them."

Malubay, who lives in Miramar, went to Zephyrhills High School. Mercado, who lives in Miami, is from Sarasota.

All of Abdul's favorites survived the cuts last week when four singers failed to get enough votes to stay on: Garrett Haley, 17, and Colton Berry, 18, were both eliminated from the male singer roster. Among the women, Amy Davis, 25, and Joanne Borgella, 25, sang their swan songs.

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