While netbooks are all the rage right now, even a small screen won’t make this look good: American Idol has selected, to replace Paula Abdul as a permanent judge on the show: talk show host and stand-up comic Ellen DeGeneres.

Really? Unfortunately, yes, really…

If DeGeneres were being selected as a judge for NBC’s Last Comic Standing, that would make perfect sense to me. She’s a former stand-up herself and while she may not be the funniest stand-up ever, she certainly knows what funny is, and what it takes to make a stand-up comic great.

Trouble is, DeGeneres is not a singer, not a musician, not a former band member… she’s just NOT a music person. So what qualifies her at all to judge aspiring singers? Nothing. The choice is entirely based on her celebrity status and, given the straight vs. gay upset result in last season’s AI finale, probably a political decision as well.

Hey, there are plenty of gay and lesbian singers out there who have real music backgrounds; want to make up for last season’s finale? There’s plenty of choices out there who would be a better fit than Ellen DeGeneres.

Again, if this were Last Comic Standing, I’d love to see DeGeneres as part of the judges’ panel. But it’s not. It’s American Idol; it’s about singing and music, and as a judge for THAT, DeGeneres is shockingly under-qualified.