Ellen Premier on American Idol Uneventful

One would think with all the hoopla of Ellen DeGeneres becoming Paula Abduls replacement on American Idol this year that her first appearance would take a little more storm. Yet, her Idol debut on Tuesday, Feb 9 was more like Ellen sprinkles.

Perhaps it was purposeful to not show much of Ellen, to ease her into the viewing audience. But that isn't exactly what Idol is known for. Idol is known for its bold approaches. If the producers of American Idol have ever eased into anything, they've done it so seamlessly America hasn't noticed...that is until now. The commercials pumping Ellen were more dramatic than her appearance and all in all, it was a little disappointing.

No doubt Americans were still glued to the television to see Ellen this week with one question on their mind, "What kind of judge will she be?" For those that missed it, you didn't miss much. What we did see were a couple quip comments, here and there, mostly on the negative edge. If anything, she will add humor to the panel with unexpected one-liners.

With Simon leaving next Season, this may be what Idol needs. His shoes will be hard to fill as the straight talking, rude one. Second best would probably be humor. Who doesn't love to laugh? So, that may be exactly what we get - a little comedy to replace Mr. Grim. Idol giving her the "step forward, step back" gig was a clue. If you missed it, ask the millions of American's who didn't. It was cute.

Ellen's most notable comments were, "Is there something wrong with the mic?" This was after the beep box performer bombed. And when she said, "There is a fine line between sexy and scary" I am sure all America smiled. Finally, the statement "That was crazy...in a bad way." Did give us a hint which direction she is going and it isn't a lovey-dovey. Again, funny and frank must be on the way.

Less "all eyes on Ellen" this Tuesday, the viewer left trying to understand "Hollywood Week" - because with the changes in structure of the week over the years, it's unclear that any of us really understand the process...despite our undeniable time watching the show. How strange after all of these seasons we are all still asking questions like, "Now is this just a one-shot sing, before we get to 20? Or is it 10? Are they doing 5 people at a time or 8? Why does he have his keyboard...did he get to sing twice?" Ultimately, we just give up and sit back and try to enjoy the stories as drama unfolds.

Less "all eyes on Ellen" this Tuesday, the viewer left trying to understand "Hollywood Week." With the changes in structure of the week over the years, it's unclear that any of us really understand the process (despite our undeniable time watching the show.) How strange after all of these seasons we are all still asking questions like, "Now is this just a one-shot sing, before we get to 20? Or is it 10? Are they doing 5 people at a time or 8? Why does he have his keyboard...did he get to sing twice?" Ultimately, we just give up and sit back and try to enjoy the stories as drama unfolds.

However, there was so little drama this week and the only thing to focus on was Ellen and the structure. We did get to see who could play instruments and that mainly was in the contestants favor. Most of the guitarists proved to use their instruments with great skill. The most memorable guitar performances were by Casey James (the one Kara made strip last week.) "Big Mike" and Hally Vaughn also delivered great guitar performances as they crossed cultural bounds, dipping into country ballads with flair.
No doubt, there is talent in Season 9. But Idol could have been stronger tonight. First, Americans need a short presentation on the "Hollywood Week" process, preferably in childlike stick-figure illustrations. And last, a little more Ellen.

In summary, the talent is there, the guitarists really jammed ("crazy... in a good way") and Ellen was eased in via a soft approach. Overall sentiments: To revise one of Ellen's quotes mentioned earlier, "There's a fine line between... soft and stale."