Ellen DeGeneres to Be Fourth American Idol Judge

Ellen DeGeneres is joining Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Kara DioGuardi as an American Idol judge starting in January 2010. I am not making this up, I promise it is true. It was just announced that the star of "Ellen" will join the other three sitting American Idol judges for season nine. Ellen replaces Paula Abdul who left the show last July after eight seasons as a judge.

American Idol producers must have been looking for a refreshing, lovable, witty, dry-humored entertainer than could charm millions of new American Idol viewers. Those are all the wonderful qualities that Ellen DeGeneres will bring to the American Idol judges seat and more.

So while Ellen DeGeneres is adorable and charming, she knows absolutely nothing about the music industry. Current judge Simon Cowell, known to rip the very hearts out of American Idol want-to-be's, is a very successful music producer and knows what it takes to make it in the music business. Randy Jackson is a successful producer and musician in his own right, even if he does use words like "dawg" all the time. And Kara DioGuardi, excluding the terrible single she wrote from last season of American Idol, is a very good songwriter.

Ellen DeGeneres is an American Idol fan. Ellen stated that she is a long term fan of American Idol and said, "I have not missed one episode". If you were looking for more qualifications there aren't any. That is it. Ellen DeGeneres is a fan. Because she is a fan she is now an American Idol judge. I am an American Idol fan - that does not qualify me to be an American Idol judge.

Simon Fuller, American Idol's creator and executive producer, offers this as an explanation of the decision, "I could not be more excited to have Ellen join the 'American Idol' family. Ellen has been a fan of the show for many years, and her love of music and understanding of the American public will bring a unique human touch to our judging panel."

Ellen DeGeneres does have a solid connection with the American viewing public, she already hosts the madly successful talk show aptly titled "The Ellen DeGeneres Show". Ellen has hosted the show since 2003 and currently averages 8.3 million viewers per episode. The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been nominated for many Daytime Emmy awards through the years and it has won inj both Best Talk Show and Talk Show Host categories.

Ellen DeGeneres has stated that she will continue the talk show and perform her duties as an American Idol judge, "I'm going to have a day job and a night job." In these tough economic times that's a pretty good plan for any of us.

I will certainly be tuning in to season nine of American Idol to see how Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres will share the American Idol judge's stage. While Ellen may not be musically qualified for the judge's seat, I am sure that Ellen will be entertaining.

Sources:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1621108/20090909/index.jhtml

http://www.pbpulse.com/tv/2009/09/09/ellen-replaces-paula-on-idol-what-the/

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20303396,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIrRt3DLbAtDiL4tlDgi0cKcMFnwD9AK5A1G2