WILL PAULA ABDUL LEAVE IDOL TO BECOME A GUEST JUDGE ON SYTYCD?

Paula Abdul fans have been adamant -- they want Paula back on American Idol! Idol judge Simon Cowell says he wants Paula sitting next to him at the judges' table next season -- and host Ryan Seacrest says that he wants her there too. Former American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe wrote on Twitter that Fox would be crazy not to bring her back. And fans have been bombarding Twitter with #keeppaula messages to make their sentiments known!

If American Idol executives really want Abdul back, though, they may need to step up to the plate and show it because So You Think You Can Dance producer (former executive producer of American Idol) Lythgoe, who has supported her all along, has voiced that he would happily consider Paula as a guest judge on his popular dance competition show.

"We would certainly consider (Abdul as) a guest judge," Lythgoe confided to the NY Daily News -- "Without question." Abdul, besides making a strong mark as a singer, has also enjoyed a noted dancing and choreography career, working with such noted artists as Janet Jackson.

"I'd never been involved in negotiations when I was with the show (American Idol)," Lythgoe told the Daily News, "but having spoken with (Fox president of alternative programming) Mike Darnell, I know Fox wants to keep Paula. The figures that have been quoted for Simon (Cowell) and Ryan (Seacrest) are great figures. I don't know if they're true, but Paula seeing those figures would make her pretty upset."

Darnell declined to comment on Tuesday -- except to tell the Daily News that, "They will talk and try to iron things out, and if they don't come to an agreement, then Paula will move on. At the end of the day, that program is bigger than any indiviual. Even Simon."

Rumors are spreading like wildfire that Abdul wants $20 million to come back -- and her tv executive bosses only want to cough up half of that amount.

Still, with Seacrest recently inking a $45 million contract -- and Cowell rumored to want $100 million to return to Idol when his contract runs out after this next season, does $20 million seem unreasonable for Paula? Not only is she the sweetest and kindest judge, but she also provides the balance for Cowell's sometimes harsh assessment of contestant's performances. And if there is one thing that can be said for Paula, it is that she is always interesting!

Again, given the fact that execs handed Seacrest a $45 million contract, it seems unlikely that their coffers are so empty that they cannot find less than half of that amount for Paula -- of course, assuming that rumors are correct and $20 million is what she actually wants.

But it appears that if American Idol executives and Abdul cannot reach a meeting of the minds in contract negotiations -- there is some possibility that she might actually join SYTYCD!