Tagged: Ellen DeGeneres

Idol rumors

Well folks, the Ellen DeGeneres era on American Idol is, thankfully, over.

The stand-up comic and daytime talk host was out of her area of strength on Idol, and her departure will hopefully mean that Fox will have a judge panel next season who all have music backgrounds. That was the biggest and most legitimate critique of DeGeneres – her lack of a music industry background.

Personally, I’d love to see Ellen join the judges panel of the next season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing; she’d immediately become the top judge and draw of the show, and has way more credibility and humor than any of this season’s judges. The woman knows comedy, not music, and could help make Last Comic Standing a way more legitimate show.

That aside, it’s a relief to have her off Idol, where she was outside her area of expertise.

Now to the rumor mill: word is (and no, I have no security cameras at Fox) that Idol has come to terms already with Jennifer Lopez as Ellen’s replacement. Huge improvement; while J-Lo needs an image boost after being dumped by her record label and her latest movie bombing, she’s an ideal Idol judge due to being a legit pop star – just as Paula Abdul was.

Simon’s replacement is still in the works; I’d love to hear that Apprentice winner Bret Michaels is the choice, although the rumor mill has Steven Tyler as more likely. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if it was Nigel Lythgow himself, who is returning to Idol after a couple seasons as just on So You Think You Can Dance.

The remaining questions are these: will Fox retain Kara DioGuardi as a fourth judge? The word is, she’s already been told she won’t be returning, and her deal was a year-to-year contract.

The bigger question is whether Fox will retain Randy Jackson as a connection to Idol’s past, or if they want to clean house and start fresh. Hard to say.

Personally, I’d love to see Idol free up Randy; that way, when Simon Cowell’s X-Factor debuts in 2011, he could potentially re-team with both Paula and Randy, reuniting the original three-judge panel that worked so well for years on Idol.

Now if only we knew when Ryan Seacrest’s contract was up, and whether he’d consider re-teaming with Cowell on X-Factor, or if CNN is in his future instead.

Cowell may leave Idol

Simon Cowell may leave American Idol after this season; that’s the word from his brother on Twitter. But we suspect Cowell is just using his desire to leave the show as a negotiating position, as he has before when his contract has come up for renewal.

So is Simon going into RV repair? Not on your life; he wants to bring over his latest show, X-Factor, from Great Britain to the US. However, since Fox is the most interested buyer at the moment, don’t be surprised if they link purchase of X-Factor to a condition of Cowell remaining on Idol in some form.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Idol the past few months. First, Paula Abdul’s contract is not renewed; then, Fox chooses the worst possible replacement – a stand-up comic and talk show host with no musical background, Ellen DeGeneres – to take Abdul’s place.

Now no Simon?

The old adage stands true; don’t mess with success! Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Fox is doing…

American Idol’s worst decision ever…

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.