Ellen Degeneres American Idol Judge

Ellen Lee DeGeneres is a twelve-time Emmy Award-winning American stand-up comedienne, television hostess and actress. She hosts the award winning syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Fox and the producers of “American Idol” apparently do. In a wholly unexpected development, the comedian has been selected to join the judging panel on  television’s “American Idol,” effectively replacing Paula Abdul, the network announced Wednesday night.

Degeneres will join Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, as well as Kara DioGuardi, who’s entering her second year evaluating the singers competing on the program, television most popular program set to begin its ninth season in January.

The Fox announcement came only after DeGeneres broke the news to the studio audience for her “Ellen” program during the taping of the show set to air Thursday. That’s the same day that rival daytime host Oprah Winfrey’s Michigan Avenue block party, taped Tuesday in Chicago, is set to air and the “Idol” news may well steal some of Winfrey’s attention.

How the newcomer will fit in and whether the show is served by having that many judges is anyone’s guess.

DeGeneres can clearly hold her own as a performer. But DioGuardi sometimes seemed unnecessary last season. For that matter, Jackson often was the odd man out as Cowell and Abdul teased and taunted one another, which was often as entertaining as the young singers hoping to win viewer votes en route to the “Idol” title.

Abdul’s contract negotiations with the show’s producers broke down last month, however, with Abdul telling fans of her exit via Twitter.

“I’m thrilled to be the new judge on ‘American Idol,’” DeGeneres said in the announcement. “I’ve watched since the beginning, and I’ve always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I’ll save from not having to text in my vote.”

DeGeneres will not join the judges’ panel until after the show’s early auditions. Guest judges at those auditions will include Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Shania Twain.

“I could not be more excited to have Ellen join the ‘American Idol’  family,” Simon Fuller, creator and executive producer of “Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” said in a statement. “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. I can’t wait for this next season to begin.”

Fellow “Idol” executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz added that, “Beyond her incredible sense of humor and love of music, [DeGeneres] brings with her an immense warmth and compassion that is almost palpable.”

Mike Darnell, president of alternative entertainment for Fox, called DeGeneres “one of America’s funniest people and a fantastic performer who understands what it’s like to stand up in front of audiences and entertain them every day,” and he said she will add “a fresh new energy to the show.”

At the taping of Thursday’s “Ellen,” DeGeneres told her daytime audience not to worry that she will abandon them as she adds this prime-time job to her workload.

“I’m going to have a day job and a night job,” DeGeneres said, according to comments provided by the talk show. “The times we’re living … in we’re all doing that.”

DeGeneres said her goal as a judge on “Idol” is to represent ordinary viewers.

“Hopefully I’m the people’s point of view because I’m just like you,” she said. “I sit at home and I watch it and … I’m not looking at it in a critical way from the producer’s mind. I’m looking at it as a person who is going to buy the music and is going to relate to that person. So I’m hopefully going to be that voice of what we’re all doing at home.”

Err Kris Allen wins American Idol 2009

Country boy Kris Allen kicked Adam Lambert out of his ring last night, becoming the eighth American Idol title winner.

This is probably the biggest upset in the shows history. Simon Cowell many times said that Adam Lambert was his favorite because of his amazing and crazy performances.

Elites TV was routing for Adam Lambert to win.

We’re sure he has a future career ahead of him and millions of fans waiting to buy his next album.

american idol may 19:American Idol 8 The Final Countdown

After months of auditions and competition, we’re down to our final two, Adam and Kris. We open our final performance show with clips of the two singers, finishing with each saying he’s the next Idol. Ryan tells us it’s the battle between the acoustic rocker and the glam rocker, Kanye and California, the guy next door and guyliner. Randy’s decked out in a gray suit and checked shirt. Why so fancy, Randy? Adam and Kris are both wearing leather jackets. Everyone’s using hand-held microphones, for some reason. It’s strange.

Ryan tells us that Kris won last week’s coin toss and will be performing second. Each guy will sing three songs – a favorite from the season, a choice by show co-creator Simon Fuller, and a song co-written by Kara. Tomorrow will be full of filler performances and celebrity appearances and probably movie promotions, and the show is set to run about seven minutes long, which means it’ll actually run 14 minutes long.

Adam’s dad tells us that he didn’t sleep through the night until he was 18 months old, and he screamed every night. Adam confesses that he was noisy in restaurants. His dad thinks his voice came from his loud volume. Adam says he’s about the same now as he was then.

For his favorite performance, Adam has wisely chosen “Mad World” from the-year-you-were-born week. This time he does a slow descent on the staircase, wearing a long black coat. It’s very Twilight. Or how I imagine Twilight to be. I don’t see the need to critique a performance we’ve already seen, since this is pretty much the same as the original. Not like I’ve done a lot of critiquing of Adam this whole season.

Randy: He loves that Adam sang something he sang during the season (uh, that was the point, Randy), and he started the “duel” off well. He also likes the coat and the fog on the stage. It’s an A+ from Randy.

Kara: Kara’s glad that Adam chose this song to sing again because the original performance showed that he’s an artist. Can we ban the word “artist” from the show from now on?

Paula: She’s proud that Adam’s on the stage right now. He should bask in this moment. Paula liked the introverted performance Adam gave the first time around, but also the more theatrical performance he just gave.

Simon: Simon always thought this was Adam’s best performance. However, this version was a little over-theatrical and Phantom of the Opera. Randy echoes my Twilight thought. Adam says that when he heard about the dry ice the stagehands had, he knew he had to go for it.

Kris admits that he didn’t like to sing in front of his family as a kid, so they would pay him a quarter to perform. His mom says that the price went up, and his dad adds that eventually there were coupons to be redeemed for performances. That’s so cute!

Kris’ pick for his favorite performance is “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Not “Heartless”? Not “Falling Slowly”? Sad. Though it’s pretty good that this is probably his third most memorable performance and it’s still one of his strongest. It even gets applause from Simon.

Randy: Randy blathers something about basketball, then says it’s nice to be able to tell what kind of artist Kris is going to be. This was one of his best performances ever.

Kara: If Kris doesn’t move you, there’s something wrong with you. He creates an intimate bond with everyone in the audience and makes everyone think he’s singing just to him or her.

Paula: Kris awakens people’s spirits and “Allen-izes” his performances.

Simon: This is a competition (oh, really?), and when Kris was put in the top two last week, Simon wasn’t sure it was the best decision. After this performance, he takes that doubt back.

Ryan asks Simon who wins round 1. Simon calls it for Kris.

Moving right along to round 2, Simon Fuller has chosen Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” for Adam. Interesting choice. Let’s hope Adam doesn’t try to compare it to his Idol journey. By the way, add ‘60s R&B to the long list of music Adam can sing. He’s once again a chameleon and makes it seem as if he sings this type of music all the time. Good luck following that, Kris.

Randy: That song is amazing, and Adam showed that the real reason he’s here is because he can sing his face off. That was unbelievable.

Kara: That may have been his best performance and interpretation of a song all season. The combination of high notes, pulling back, and showing emotion was great. Adam does well showing both sides of himself.

Paula: That was the best Paula has ever heard Adam sing. He also looks like a superstar, and no matter what happens, he’ll be iconic. Really? Iconic? Okay, then.

Simon: Adam is 100 percent back in the game. He was… out of the game? Because Simon thought Kris did better last round?

Fuller’s choice for Kris is Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” which Kris has unsurprisingly Allen-ized, to borrow Paula’s term. It’s good, and comfortably Kris, but after that performance from Adam, it’s almost a letdown.

Randy: This is a real duel. The performance, though well done, was light for the room and the competition.

Kara: She likes that Kris has stayed true to himself through the competition. She also likes that Fuller picked a socially conscious song.

Paula: Kris tore the song up and made Marvin Gaye proud.

Simon: “It was like three friends in their bedroom, strumming along to Marvin Gaye.” Yep. Kris didn’t do much original with it, and he agrees with Randy that it was too laidback for a night like this.

According to Simon, round 2 goes to Adam, so round 3 will be the tiebreaker.

Ryan hangs with the rest of the top 13, then sends it back to Adam to sing “No Boundaries,” this season’s single. It’s not a great song, but Adam sells the heck out of it. It’s kind of like a Bon Jovi song, but a bad Bon Jovi song. Sorry, but I’m not looking forward to hearing this on the radio all summer. Looks like the show is 0 for 8 on coronation singles.

Randy: For the millionth time, Adam can sing, but this wasn’t one of Randy’s favorite performances. It was a little pitchy.

Kara: She loved hearing a song she helped write sung by someone who’s so talented. Adam thanks her for the beautiful song. He’s not lying, he’s acting!

Paula: Gush, gush, gush.

Simon: He doesn’t like the song, unsurprisingly. Simon says that Adam has been one of the best and most original contestants ever to appear on the show. The point of the show is to find a worldwide star, and Simon is sure that that is Adam.

Ryan tells Adam that he’s always been true to himself. He asks if he did what he needed to do tonight. Adam’s happy with how he did tonight, especially with three very different songs, and says he was especially pleased to get to do the Sam Cooke song.

Kris then gets a turn with his Allen-ized version of the stupid song. His take on it sounds like something they would play over the funeral video after someone’s eliminated from the show. Performance-wise, it’s good, but again, the song… ug, the song. It’s hard to look past it. I call this round a draw.

Randy: Kris should be proud of what he’s done in the competition. He’s an amazing competitor. The song seems to fit his voice better than Adam’s.

Kara: The song was too high, so Kris shouldn’t be judged on it (um, okay) but rather on his performances from the whole season. She hopes people vote on the whole season, not just tonight.

Paula: This has been one of the most compelling finales, and Kris deserves to be where he is.

Simon: Kris’ highlight tonight was “Ain’t No Sunshine.” He came into his first audition with little confidence or awareness of who he was, but now he has confidence and an identity. He should be proud of himself for getting to the final two.

Kris tells Ryan that he and Adam have agreed that they’re no longer competing, they’re just putting on a good show. Well said. I think both of them would love to win, of course, but both would also be okay with coming in second. Adam has said he’s here for exposure, not necessarily to win, and I doubt Kris expected to get this far, so I’m sure he’d be thrilled no matter what happens tomorrow.

dial idol:Screamer or strummer? American idol2009

It’s said we get the Idol we deserve. So who’s it going to be, America? The glam screamer or the shy strummer? Adam Lambert or Kris Allen?

This week’s finale offers the most dramatic matchup in eight years of Idol, more pronounced than country gal Carrie Underwood vs. rocker Bo Bice in season four.

The soft-spoken Allen, 23, is the worship leader at his hometown church in Arkansas. Lambert, with his shockwave hair, raccoon eyes and black fingernail polish (a fashion statement that really threw Idol mentor Randy Travis), seems like an envoy from Sodom and Gomorrah.

You never want to underestimate the importance of the cute guy factor in determining American Idol results. Let’s face it, young girls can dial eight times, send six texts and check their hair in the time it takes the rest of us to locate our cells.

Advantage, Mr. Allen.

There’s no denying, however, that the 27-year-old Lambert’s charisma and flamboyance have reenergized the show. Plus, week after week, he’s had Idol’s judging panel pulling for him harder than an Olympic rowing team.

During a recent Oprah appearance, Simon Cowell preemptively declared Lambert the winner. A couple of weeks ago on the air, Kara DioGuardi declared him a “rock God.”

Who can compete with a deity? Game, set, match, Lambert. That is, as long as viewers follow the judges’ script.

Since he emerged as the front runner (with an exotic cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” in March), the big question has been: Is Adam gay?

Come on, people: he made it out of the Hollywood rounds singing Cher. Does he have to spell it out for you?

Lambert has maintained a coolly neutral stance when confronted with the issue, saying, “I know who I am. I’m an honest guy, and I’m just going to keep singing.”

It’s his vocal style, not his sexuality, that will determine his fate tomorrow night. People either respond to his stage flair and extraordinary range or they find him outrageously over the top.

No one would dispute that he’s one of a kind. When Lambert hits those freaky high notes, he makes Rush’s Geddy Lee sound like a baritone.

This week’s showdown caps off an often-bizarre season of American Idol.

With an average of 25 million viewers, the Fox singing contest remains the big dog in prime time, easily besting its nearest rival, Dancing With the Stars. But ratings were down again this year. According to Nielsen Media, Idol’s audience in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic shrank 13 percent this season and a full 34 percent since 2006, when Taylor Hicks won.

Yet Fox did all it could to rearrange the deck chairs on its aging flagship.

The biggest change was the addition of songwriter Kara DioGuardi to the judges’ pool. Unfortunately, that meant that the commentary now lasted longer than the performances.

An unprecedented baker’s dozen made the finals after the judges gave Anoop Desai an unexpected reprieve. (Ten of those singers will take part in the Idol summer tour coming to the Wachovia Center on Aug. 20. Other regional stops include Atlantic City, Wilkes-Barre and Reading.)

For the first time this year, we had sing-offs in Hollywood. Remember the battle of the blue-collar bruisers, as Matt Breitzke took on Michael Sarver? Sumo singing.

Another innovation: the judges’ save, which allowed Simon and the gang to bring back one Top 10 singer from elimination. They exercised it on Matt Giraud when seven contestants were left. But he was sent packing again the following week.

We had the usual train wrecks (manic Tatiana Del Toro) and controversies (the overnight disqualification of Mayfair’s Joanna Pacitti).

Mostly, though, season eight of Idol just seemed long. Crossing the country in the back of your parents’ station wagon long.

Was Jorge Nuñez really one of the finalists? Why did we ever care about Megan Joy?

One way or the other, it ends tomorrow night.

Because the voting margin between Lambert and Allen is so slim (less than a million last week), it makes tonight’s final performances pivotal.

You’d think that pressure cooker scenario would favor Lambert, because all season long, he’s shown a knack for shining when the spotlight is brightest.

But Allen has been growing in confidence each week. And you suddenly have all these uncommitted Danny Gokey delegates floating around. (The Milwaukee balladeer was dismissed last week.) Those viewers may well provide the swing vote. And logically Danny’s fans would favor the gentler alternative (Allen) over the air-raid siren (Lambert).

who won american idol:Winner of American Idol 2009

Kara DioGuardi –The noe and possibly future judge of American Idol– has co-written the winner’s first single.  The song, entitled “No Boundaries,” was written with Cathy Dennis and Mitch Allan.

Before her season-long “Idol” tenure, DioGuardi was best known as a songwriter for such artists as Pink, Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson. “No Boundaries” will be the first radio offering of either Adam Lambert or Kris Allen, who will face off on tonight’s performance show; the winner will be crowned Wednesday night.

For years, the “American Idol” winner has been saddled with mediocre debuts. In an interview last month, when asked whether she might offer her expertise to break this cycle, DioGuardi said: “I’ve been asked to. I’ve submitted something.”

When pressed for details, she said: “I did write one that – I won’t say it’s what they all write about. But it is, kind of. Because they asked for that! It’s not like you can submit anything, they have a criteria.”

What is it, like, I’m so happy?

“It’s about finding your dream,” DioGuardi said. “And the struggle. That’s what they want.”

And was that hard?

“No. It’s easy for me to talk about dreams and struggles. I’m in one right now. I’m in one right now!” She laughed, and continued. “Right? A dream and a struggle. At the same time. We’ll know soon enough if the fourth judge is on the chopping block. Won’t we?”

Yes, we will.

Chris Daughtry doesn’t surprise in return to ‘American Idol’

Chris Daughtry is performing on “American Idol” as everyone’s still buzzing about Kris Allen making the final three. They replay the tape three years ago of Chris shockingly getting cut and Katherine McPhee moving on.

Yeah, that has to be “Idol’s” most surprising cut — so far….

They’re debuting “No Surprise.” He’s one of my all-time favorite “Idol” contestants; he started the trend of being really creative and taking risks with his song interpretations (Blake Lewis, David Cook and Adam Lambert of course being the ones who have followed in his footsteps).

He’s just a rock star, period. Nothing gimmicky or nostalgic about his performance; unlike some of the other returning “Idols” he doesn’t need the show to keep boosting his career.

Ryan really seems to have a lot of affection for him, gives him a big hug. Chris says getting cut is still a really vivid memory, “at the time it felt like the world was coming to an end.” Kris Allen brings out a plaque. Their debut album’s sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

Chris thanks his fans; a consummate Idol, proves you don’t need to win on the show to win.

American Idol 8, May 6 Recap: You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Tuesday’s performance episode had a few high notes, both good and bad. Tyler wants the only remaining contestant not from semifinal group two (Danny, right) to leave. Will he get his wish? Will the consensus prediction of Kris Allen come true instead? Plus, a past top four shocker, the current mentor, a former mentor’s band, and a judge all perform. Big things promised in this recap,

Tuesday night’s excursion into classic rock’s greatest hits, with Slash as mentor, had some hits and some misses. Adam started the night with a whole lot of love for his “Whole Lotta Love”; Allison gave a great vocal on Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby,” but also received criticism for the song choice; Kris & Danny’s vocals both went renegade during their duet on “Renegade”; Kris went solo on “Come Together,” but it didn’t quite come together; Danny attempted the legendary scream on “Dream On” with nightmarish results; and Adam & Allison proved how to duet on “Slow Ride.”

Before the performances even began, we had predictions from Sting7 and David Bloomberg (whom I keep forgetting to include in this part), as well as Donna Reynolds. After the performances, the rest of the crew made their calls. Jenn, Joseph, Sandy, and Preston all agreed with Donna about Kris going home. I decided to go with David’s prediction of Allison. Sting was alone in predicting Danny’s ouster, even after Danny let out that noise. Who rocked the call this week?

Before we can find out, we must ignore yet another product-placed car video. The top four sing “Move Along” by the All-American Rejects. They chase the car of the week as poster/newspaper images escaping their papery shackles. It’s as useless as usual.

Mentor Slash joins the top four as they sing the group number, Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out.” Is school out yet? I shouldn’t think so for grade school, at least. Anyway, this group number had more attitude than all of the other group songs this season put together. Which really isn’t hard to do, when you think about it. Ryan wants Slash to take off his signature shades. Sorry, Ryan, but I don’t think anyone will ever see what Slash’s face looks like. Slash also talks about an album with some big names on it.

During the usual chat session, Danny says Wednesday nights are the most tiring of the week. Kris calls the top four experience “surreal.” Simon tells Kris not to be humble at this point. Adam was excited to do the first ever Led Zeppelin song on Idol. Ryan brings up Danny’s horrid final note. Danny listened to it back, and he laughed all night. He thought he made a name for himself with that scream. At least he has a sense of humor about it. Allison’s feistiness is also brought up, along with the words she used after her critique.

Before the results can truly kick off, it’s time for the first of three special guest performances. She’s a former Laker Girl, a chart-topping pop star, and an Idol judge since the beginning. Of course, it’s Paula Abdul. It’s an obviously lip-synched performance of “Here for the Music.” Also, with the lighting, it’s hard to tell whether that’s the real Paula or not. Whoever it is, she sure moves well. Paula says she chose this time to perform because the Idol stage is the “most undeniable happy place to be.” As usual, Paula says something that makes little sense. She’s the real deal, all right.

Without delay, we witness the second guest performance. With “Just a Girl,” it’s No Doubt! Gwen Stefani doesn’t sound her best, probably because she moving around too much for her breath and voice to catch up. Plus, were those five push-ups necessary? In any case, these guys have sold quite a lot of records over their 13 years of existence, with Gwen also doing well on her own, so they’ve obviously done something right. Ryan lets Gwen know that he was nervous of her movements with the broken stage this week. Gwen eventually says a new No Doubt album will be out soon, but first the tour will start in Vegas. Good luck with that!

Over 64 million votes determined which three will return home as heroes, and which one will return as just a fourth placer. We watch a montage of past home trips, which shows how the top three can expect huge crowds of fans, many of whom probably don’t even live in the same state.

The stools await the lucky three, and the order will be decided randomly. I bet. Allison Iraheta got “soundalike” criticisms, but also “fearless” praises. Danny Gokey was deemed “out of his element” with a last note “like watching a horror movie.” Adam Lambert got called a “rock god” after a universally loved performance. Kris Allen got mixed results, ranging from “left an artistic imprint” to “like eating ice for lunch.” The first finalist in the top three is… Kris Allen!

And with that, the majority of Idol staffers on this site proved to have little precognitive ability.

Speaking of little precognitive ability, no one expected a car dealership worker from North Carolina to prove himself and surprise us all as one of Idol’s top rockers. No one expected said rocker to go home in a surprisingly measly fourth place. Quite a few people probably expected his band’s debut album to go quadruple-platinum and produce three top ten hits, but I bet it was surprise to Chris. With a new album coming out in July, and a new single called “No Surprise,” it’s Daughtry! The song is co-written by Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger, and it shows. If you like Nickelback, you’ll love this song. If not, you won’t. The other Kris presents a plaque to Chris, signifying his quad-platinum debut album.

Milwaukee to celebrate Danny Gokey making top 3