Former The X Factor host Steve Jones is reportedly replacing Mark Steines as the new co-host of Entertainment Tonight, according to the New York Post.

The 35-year-old has been filling in since March and Steines is leaving the nightly syndicated entertainment show after 17 years.

Simon Cowell gave Jones the boot from the music competition show in January along with judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger.

Desperate for higher ratings after a disappointing first season, The X Factor has reportedly landed pop star Britney Spears as a judge for a whopping $15 million, according to TheWrap.

Spears previously turned down a $10 million offer from Simon Cowell‘s music competition show but it appears $13 million to judge and an additional $2 million to perform was enough to change her mind. The deal hasn’t been officially signed yet as Spears is under a conservatorship with her father, Jamie.

To put this proposed deal in perspective, Paula Abdul received only $2.5 million during her one season as judge on the show.

I think folks will tune in to the first couple of episodes but is Spears relevant enough in 2012 to create a huge increase in ratings? Only time will tell.

American Idol has been a television juggernaut for Fox. It sweeps in the ratings – it’s been a cultural mainstay for eight seasons. Nine? American Idol has been idolized – replicated and made into a formula to which we are all familiar: three judges watch crazy people that really think they’re good but aren’t. We laugh at their shocking lack of self-awareness (like we did with Sarah Palin), then the judges say mean things and Americans feel better about themselves for never trying.

Then the second half of the season, really talented people cry and say how bad they want to win in all their private interviews.

Bring on the product integration!

So now a woman named Paula Goodspeed, a contestant (her AI video, if you have the stomach to watch, can be found here) killed herself in front of Paula Abdul‘s house yesterday.

Now that it’s happened, it seems like it was only a matter of time. These people are being mocked nationally for nothing more than ratings, our national sense of smugness and a overwhelming desire to tell untalented people off. It’s like that line from Sunset Boulevard “You don’t yell at a sleepwalker – he may fall and break his neck.”

Will this change American Idol? Will it be like Jenny Jones after the murder of one of her guests? That arguably changed talk shows.

Will they stop using random unpaid fragile crazy people and just stick to having their regular celebrity fragile crazy people?

Discuss.

Perhaps finally realizing that Paula Abdul is a train wreck we can turn away from, Fox is introducing a fourth jurist to the American Idol judge’s table, Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

Who?

Well, according to the LAT she’s “a smart, sassy lady.” But we’re still not convinced this is “change we can believe in,” so we consulted our Rabbi.

Rabbi Richard Rushfield, the venerable American Idol Watcher for the LAT, was philosophical about the change, telling FBLA:

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TV Guide talks with Dancing With The Stars judges Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba about whether Paula Abdul should be a contestant on the upcoming season — as if FOX would let her.

DWTS hostess Samantha Harris tells FBLA exclusively: “I’ve known Paula for years and would be ecstatic if she was on our show. She sure would up the game for the competitors but also would stir up controversy since she’s known for her choreography! A little drama is always fun to mix things up!”

THR reports that Fox has again gone to its go-to guy for live broadcasts, Ryan Seacrest, signing the American Idol host to emcee the network’s Sept. 16 telecast of the 59th annual Emmy Awards. Reporter Nellie Andreeva writes that while Seacrest is a “logical” choice for Fox, he is a “somewhat unorthodox pick for the Emmy Awards ceremony which are usually fronted by a comedian.” To be fair though, Seacrest does have his share of funny moments on Idol. But instead of traditional jokes, they’re usually in the form of jabs at Simon Cowell. Wonder what he’ll do without having the razor-tongue Brit to rely on? Well, he could always request a front-row seat for Paula Abdul.

Judd Apatow continued his summer reign at the box-office with his latest pic, Superbad, opening superhuge at No. 1 with a $31.2 million take. The Superbad bow comes on the heels of Apatow’s earlier summer comedy Knocked Up which is currently pushing towards the $150 million mark. Hollywood officially has its new golden boy while a previous golden girl, Nicole Kidman, had a steep fall from grace after her latest pic, the sci-fi remake Invasion, couldn’t invade the top three spots, settling for a No. 5 debut with a paltry $6 million.

Speaking of Kidman, the poor showing of her latest pic hasn’t hindered her career prospects, reports Var’s Michael Fleming. The Oscar-winner has signed on to star opposite Ralph Fiennes in the love story, The Reader, for the Weinstein Co. Stephen Daldry directs based on a novel by German scribe Bernhard Schlink. Reader reunites the Aussie actress with her Cold Mountain producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack.

Meanwhile, Kidman’s ex Tom Cruise has been busy himself, shooting the Bryan Singer-directed Valkyrie in Germany. However, filming hit a bit of a speed bump on Sunday night when 11 people were injured when they fell off the back of a truck in Berlin. THR reports that a side panel burst open when a truck drove around a corner, seriously injuring one cast member.

Disney’s squeaky-clean teen smash High School Musical dirtied up the record books over the weekend when the sequel premiered on Friday night. Var reports that the telefilm averaged 17.2 million viewers for the premiere, making it “the most-watched basic-cable telecast on record. It’s also the largest aud for any television program on any net in about three months.”
– CHRIS GARDNER

Milli Vanilli, the Grammy winnning 80s duo, will get the big screen treatment thanks to writer-director Jeff Nathanson. Kathleen Kennedy will produce for Universal. Nathanson said he’s always been fascinated by fakes and frauds.

DirecTV subscribers will get Ovation, a cable channel devoted to arts programming. The COO, Ron Garfield, promises a revamp of the channel–which could mean that celebrity poker is now an art form.

The looming WGA strike has producers stockpiling scripts, and reality shows shooting around the clock. The contract expires in October, and some studios are thinkng about moving up the production cycle from August to May or June. This means stars like Keifer Sutherland won’t be able to make movies during the summer hiatus, which may not be a bad thing.

Craig Pilagian, reality master-mind, is suing Paula Abdul and David Russo, claiming they stole his idea for Hey Paula!. Because following her around with a camera crew is the most original idea ever to spring from the mind of man.

Parker Posey moves into television in The Return of Jezebel James Amy Sherman-Palladino’s comedy pilot centers on a successful children’s book editor (newly single and unable to conceive) asks her estranged younger sister to carry her baby for her. It must be funnier than it sounds.

Rupert Everett’s book, Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, should be in every goodie bag this season, but probably won’t be:

Giving an award is one of the most depressing pastimes known to man. You stand in the wings with another publicity starved celebrity in borrowed jewels. You breeze onto the set to one or other of your famous theme tunes.