Paula Abdul announced yesterday she is quitting "American Idol," a show that she said she helped make into an international phenomenon.

"With sadness in my heart, I've decided not to return" to the hit Fox TV singing contest, the 47-year-old singer-dancer said in a Twitter posting.

In a statement, Fox and the show's producers said Abdul was "an important part of the 'American Idol' family over the last eight seasons, and we are saddened that she has decided not to return to the show."

On Monday, Fox announced that Kara DioGuardi will return for a second season on the "American Idol" judging panel with Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. The addition of Grammy-nominated songwriter DioGuardi last year raised questions about Abdul's future.

JACKSON'S DAD NOT PLANNING TO RAISE KIDS

Joe Jackson doesn't plan to help raise Michael Jackson's three children.

The Jackson family patriarch lives in Las Vegas and wrote in a statement filed in a Los Angeles court Monday that he only occasionally visits the family home in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley area.

"I have had a close family relationship with these grandchildren since their birth," Jackson wrote in the declaration in support of his wife seeking custody of the grandchildren. "I do visit the family residence from time to time and will continue to do so, however I will not be involved in raising the children."

His wife, Katherine, on Monday was granted permanent custody of Michael Jackson's three children.

JACKMAN PLANS TO BELT IT OUT AS BARNUM

Hugh Jackman is turning into one of Hollywood's biggest showmen.

He apparently will follow his song-and-dance triumph as host of the Academy Awards with a role as legendary showman P.T. Barnum in the movie musical "The Greatest Showman on Earth."

The film about Barnum and his three-ring circus is in development at 20th Century Fox, being produced by Laurence Mark, who produced February's Oscar ceremony featuring Jackman as host.

The studio says the script is being written with Anne Hathaway in mind to co-star. Hathaway was in one of the Oscar show's musical numbers with Jackman.

Jackman is a Tony winner for the Broadway musical "The Boy From Oz."

SPIELBERG TO BE HONORED BY PHILADELPHIA

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg will be awarded Philadelphia's 2009 Liberty Medal on Oct. 8 for his artistic and humanitarian achievements, the National Constitution Center announced yesterday.

Spielberg's films include "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Color Purple." He has also established a foundation to produce video and oral histories of Holocaust survivors, and the center says he will donate the $100,000 cash award to that organization, the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.