Ellen Degeneres Replaces Paula Abdul on 'American Idol'-Will She Be a Success?

She may seem an unlikely choice to judge a contest all about pop music and singing. After all, Ellen is known best as a comedian, and it came as a bit of a shock when she was announced as Paula Abdul's replacement on 'American Idol' for the 2010 season. Being a longtime fan of the show, I too had my doubts about the selection of Ellen, but my own gut feeling says she will be a success and here is why.

As much as I adore Paula, the truth is over the last several seasons her personality took a change for the worse. Paula slowly went from being the 'nice' judge who was positive, charming, and reassuring to the contestants, to being snarky, negative and even downright rude, much on the same level as 'Mr. Nasty' himself Simon Cowell. Well, this completely changed the formula of the show and made the audition process difficult to watch and enjoy. 'Idol' has room for only one Simon, not two, and not a female version at that. After Paula's on air shenanigans in which viewers found her to be a little 'off' (being that she was on prescription drugs for dance related injuries) I was questioning if her 'Idol' days were numbered, and that maybe she had worn out her welcome ages ago. When it was announced that she was leaving 'Idol' last year and was to be replaced by Ellen, my first instinct was that 'American Idol' had 'Jumped the Shark', but the more I thought about it, Ellen's fresh outlook and laid back sense of humor will be a nice welcome to the show once again.

America will find out for sure tonight whether they think Ellen will be a hit or miss, but I say give her a chance before you decide that 'American Idol' has 'Jumped the Shark'. With a fresh new line-up, it will be a welcome change of pace and a great way to kick off 'American Idol' for the new decade. Now, hopefully Paula's old stylists will give Ellen's normally plain appearance a small dose of glamour!

'American Idol' airs Tuesday nights on Fox. Check your local listings for times.