Paula Abdul's 'Live to Dance' launches Jan. 4

It does now appear that Paula Abdul will in fact compete directly against her old show -- the one with the words 'American' and 'Idol' in the title.

  CBS just announced that it'll launch Jan. 4 with a two-hour special, then move to Wednesdays the next night.

  Wednesdays, of course, belong to "Idol" and always have, so what the heck is CBS doing to us.

  Here's the other thing: The live telecasts of "Live to Dance" -- that's Abdul's new show -- start Jan. 12. I would bet my bottom dollar -- and in fact, I do only have a bottom dollar left -- that that will be the day "American Idol" launches with all those new judges and all that massive hype and all that overwhelming sense that it is so over.

  The CBS spin:

 
The premiere episode of LIVE TO DANCE will follow dancers
from across the country auditioning for Abdul and the
series' experts in specially constructed Dance Domes that
were built in both New York and Los Angeles to host the
auditions.  At the end of the premiere episode, a group of
dancers from all styles, backgrounds and ages will be
selected for the LIVE TO DANCE cast.


When the show moves to its regular time period on Wednesday,
Jan. 5, an additional group of dancers from the Dance Dome
auditions, who the experts feel deserve a second look, will
have one final opportunity to compete in a "dance-off," to
earn a coveted spot in the LIVE TO DANCE cast.  Those
contestants who make it through the "dance-off" will travel
to Los Angeles, rounding out the final cast of 18 dance
acts.