Wonder if they thought she'd transition into it easily since she was one of the judges on American Juniors or Junior Idol or whatever it was summer of '03?
Ugh, I remember that Junior Idol show. What a disaster. It was almost as bad as Simon Cowell's CBS dating show--almost.
I Googled for some pics of Debbie Gibson--wow, she's grown up! If AI did replace Paula with her it might work. They would have to handle it just right, though. Like replacing Shelly Long with Kirstie Alley :)