Idol Degeneres

Ellen

On American Idol

I was quite surprised, as were most folks who are familiar with both shows. Ellen's not a singer. Not a musician. Not a record producer.

I ponder this, since I only heard the news after I got back from the David Cook concert (and got to meet Syesha Mercado and Ramiele Malubay, too!). Check out the blog later on for photos and comments. I saw it from Twitter and Facebook, which were practically choking in shock.

Did I like it? Perhaps not at first. But that's probably because I was perplexed and, well hey, it was different. But I think it's a good match.

a. Ellen obviously loves music, like most people.
b. She's amusing to watch because she's funny. Paula was amusing to watch because she said or did funny things.
c. We'll never have to see Ellen kiss Simon Cowell (good heavens)!
d. She's a nice person.

So for American Idol, they get the following.

a. A judge who's nice (replacing the "nice" judge Paula)
b. A judge who's funny (replacing the sometimes odd and funny Paula).
c. A judge who may not be a musician but knows a lot of musicians and likes music (like Paula)
d. A judge who enjoys dancing to music (like Paula) - - can't wait to see her boogie on the show
e. A judge who brings her own huge fan base (more than Paula).

In some ways, I'm disappointed we don't get to see Ellen judge the local competitions. I can only imagine what her mugs would have looked like whenever the next aspiring William Hung sang.

But she'll bring pleasant and non-mean judging to the table, like Paula did. ("Well, you're dress is lovely" or "I love that makeup job"). I'm certain she'll be constructive in her critique, as she seems to know how to bring up touchy points during her talk show.

So brava, Ellen. Good choices all around.

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