Sideshow: Abdul's manager doubtful

Paula Abdul's new manager says she may not be returning to Fox's highly rated American Idol, which starts auditions for the ninth season next month.

According to the Los Angeles Times, David Sonenberg says he doesn't have a proposal for a new contract for the slightly loony Abdul, one of the show's original panel of judges.

"Very sadly, it does not appear that she's going to be back. . . . She's not a happy camper as a result of what's going on. She's hurt. She's angry. I think at this point we're going to be considering everything, including some kind of a competition show. She has tremendous ideas for a whole variety of shows."

Last month on The Late Show With David Letterman, Abdul told Letterman, "I never said [I wasn't returning]. I just said that I'm not sure. It's called, um, 'negotiating.' "

Ah.

Madonna yesterday visited some of the eight workers who were injured in an accident in which two more were killed while assembling a music stage for the singer in the French port of Marseilles.

Madonna's concert that was scheduled for last night in Marseilles was canceled after the accident Thursday at the Velodrome stadium. The roof of the stage collapsed while it was being built and crashed down on the workers.

The next stop on her tour is tomorrow in Barcelona, Spain.

The price of the Connecticut mega-mansion owned by rapper 50 Cent has dropped again - to $10.9 million.

The 50,000-square-foot home is in Farmington, near Hartford. The New York City rapper bought it for $4.1 million and spent $6 million on renovations and repairs before it first went on the market two years ago at $18.5 million.

Harry Potter continues to work box-office alchemy, turning his sixth movie adventure into an overnight blockbuster. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince took in $79.5 million domestically over the opening weekend and $159.7 million since debuting Wednesday, according to estimates from distributor Warner Bros. yesterday.

The movie also took in $237 million overseas in 54 countries, bringing its worldwide total to $396.7 million.

Half-Blood Prince was off to the fastest overall start in franchise history, coming in $20 million ahead of the last movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which grossed $139.7 million domestically in its first five days two years ago.

The new film had the second-highest start ever for a movie premiering on a Wednesday, trailing only last month's $200 million five-day opening of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Half-Blood Prince already has surpassed the $157.3 million Order of the Phoenix pulled in during its entire first week. By the end of Tuesday, Half-Blood Prince should be in the $180 million range on its way to becoming the franchise's first $300 million domestic smash since the first, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The audience was a bit older for the new movie, with more older teens turning out to see Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and pals Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) as they deal with heartache, jealousy, and romantic triangles.

Sacha Baron Cohen's mock documentary Bruno plummeted after its No. 1 debut the previous weekend. The Universal Pictures comedy fell to fourth place with $8.4 million, down a whopping 73 percent from its $30.6 million opening.