Paula Goodspeed

Paula Goodspeed (born Sandra Goodspeed; 1978 - November 12, 2008) was an American Idol contestant and singer who reached a slight level of fame by badly auditioning for season five of the talent-series in 2005 and was closely followed by the program's producers. Police are investigating Goodspeed's death as a possible drug overdose. On November 12, 2008, she was found unresponsive in her car near the home of entertainer Paula Abdul, whom she has been accused of stalking.

Death
Goodspeed's body was discovered in a car after an apparent suicide near Abdul's Los Angeles house on November 12, 2008. Jeff Ballard, a representative for Abdul, told Entertainment Tonight that Abdul was "shocked and saddened" by Goodspeed's death.

She was devastated after being personally humiliated on American Idol, in which Simon Cowell commented on her braces, saying that he had 'no idea anyone could sing with that much metal in their mouth', likening it to a bridge and then questioning how she could have got through the metal detector. Her niece, Sonja McIntyre, told US breakfast show Good Morning America: "Paula reacted pretty much the way anyone would react. Saying that she had a bridge in her mouth? That's rude. She didn't go there for looks, she went there for vocals. She went there to sing." Good Morning America also featured an interview with psychologist Dr Bethany Marshall, who said: "She may have felt that her life as she knew it was over, simply because she was criticised on this show."

Reactions to death
The death of Goodspeed became an international news story in many nations where American Idol has been broadcast.

Paula Abdul has said that Fox network and American Idol producers knew Paula Goodspeed had stalked her for 18 years, and allowed the woman to audition for the show anyway.

Paula Abdul has since put her house up for sale. A spokesman told US Weekly Magazine "Paula simply feels she has outgrown her house and given the recent public disclosure of her address, it seemed time that she move into a gated community." Other sources are saying it was due to the suicide.

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