Paula Abdul Is Not Great at Negotiating

TV personality Paula Abdul introduces the Jon Secada and Brian McKnight performance onstage during the 2008 ALMA Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on August 17, 2008 in Pasadena, California. (Getty Images)more pics »If you want a quick lesson in how not to do salary negotiations, check out Paula Abdul.

The American Idol hostess has been sending out signals that she wouldn't return to to the show for another season unless her salary got bumped up. Last weekend Abdul's manager David Sonenburg told the Los Angeles Times, "Very sadly, it does not appear she's going to be back on Idol." The next day, RadarOnline ran a story saying the star wanted $20 million to stick around.

But one week later, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Abdul is knocking down her asking price down to around $12 million. Still an increase over Abdul's reported $4 million a year, but a significant decrease over her initial ask.

Abdul deserves a pay raise, considering that both Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest both saw some serious coinage increases, with Seacrest getting $30 million a year, and Cowell taking home $45 million. And it's money well earned: The American Idol franchise churned out more than $850 million in advertising revenue last year. But unlike Cowell or Seacrest, Abdul doesn't have other gigs to fall back on.

The lack of other credible jobs besides Idol seemed to be enough to let producers call Abdul's bluff, and saved themselves at least $8 million in the process. Considering she was willing to lower her price by $8 million in one week, we bet they'll sit tight for another week and see just how low Abdul can go.

See more Paula Abdul pictures (click any photo):

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•