Well even we didn't see this coming! With Paula Abdul failing to take a lesser offer, American Idol's producers 19 Entertainment just signed the one and only Ellen DeGeneres to take over the star's judging chair. (And yes, that does mean Victoria Beckham won't be permanent.)
Don't worry, Ellen is keeping the daytime talk show, which also films in Los Angeles.
Like Abdul, we imagine DeGeneres will prefer to lift contestants up with platitudes than shoot them down with criticism. She'll just be wearing pants (or jeans!) instead of a sparkly number a la Abdul. Also, inside sources tell Queerty Ellen plans to keep her head up without the use of her arms or Simon Cowell..
First Ryan Seacrest. Then Adam Lambert. Now Ellen. American Idol is getting gayer than, well, So You Think You Can Dance.
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this must be a joke.
i love Ellen, but what does she know about karaoke?
Cool. I love Ellen too.
This sucks! Hire Pat Benatar already!
Without someone for Simon to pick on, the whole dynamic of the show goes south. They should have picked Richard Simmons.
What a brillant selection. Ellen does her music plus will be a pro-gay advocate for the talent.
Mike
http://www.cafepress.com/DrakeRock
Yay!!! More power to Ellen. She gets stronger each year. This solidifies her marketing power.
uh! AI becomes more of a joke and not due to Ellen's humor. How in the world is she qualified to just singing ability? If you wanted a standup comic who can also judge voice go for Bette Midler. Ellen makes no sense.
well…at least they have kept the tradition of hiring non-musical personalities…at least she has talent as a comic.
might i add that the others arent musicians, just shrill hack hollywood beat generators.
So Ellen is going to be doing TWO shows now? Hope that doesn't mean there's trouble in marital paradise with the wife, 'cause that sure means they will be spending less time together.
@Ian: ahhh dont say that *cover my ears*
ELLEN DEGENERES/DUSTIN LANCE BLACK 2012!!!
PAINT THE WHITE HOUSE PINK!
I think Kara was supposed to be the only replacement, but they didn't expect people to dislike her as much as they do. Most likely result is going to be Next year they won't renew Kara, and it will be Simon, Ellen, and Randy.
I love Ellen but think this is a terrible decision. Did anyone see her guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance? She had nothing to offer, one way or the other. It was actually painful to watch.
Not that I care much, since I only watch it when I'm really bored, but isn't it Simon that likes to remind the other judges this is a singing competition. Shouldn't that require judges to have some sort of music background?
Cyndi Lauper would've been my pick.
Supposedly Kara was never meant to replace Paula; I actually liked her, too. She gave some technical help to the contestants, even if she over praised them.
I love love love Ellen, but I'm not so sure she should be a judge. At the very least, she loves the show and loves music, so she might at least be able to judge whether others will like it or not.
Scabs suck
@Fitz:
I agree with you, but unless Ms. Abdul has multiple personality disorder this ain't collective bargaining.
I think, as Ellen said, she's there to judge as a 'normal' person.
Whenever I'm watching Idol or SYTYCD, we see something flat out amazing, that the entire crowd gets behind. A person with charisma whose incredibly likeable…but then the judges knock them down because their technique was off, or apparently their 'image' won't appeal to the 'majority' of people, or they're not 'marketable'.
Simon and Randy etc judged their musical ability, from a technical and marketing stand point. They know what 'sells' reliably, which is why Idol winners invariably end up being carbon copies of each other 90 percent of the time.
Whereas, hopefully, Ellen will be looking for that person who actually makes her, as the average person, (the personw ho will buy their albums) go WOW I like this artist.
As for her SYTYCD judging, she was never critical of everyone, but i think that's because she was guesting. She was only their for one go and she was just meant for a laugh and to be happy.
I think her jokes etc will be toned down for this season, and especially during auditions, i doubt she'll be letting everyone go through to hollywood :P BUT it doesn't mean she'll agree with the others.
As much as I like Ellen, I'm not so sure if she's the right fit for this show. I'll just wait and see.