Ellen DeGeneres is to be American Idol‘s fourth judge, replacing Paula Abdul and the reactions so far have been both good and bad. Talk show host, DeGeneres is to represent the people in Fox’s singing competition.Popular Idol blogger MJ Santillia at mjsblog.com said “I mean, really? Ellen DeGeneres? She guest judged ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ last season, and her critiques were comic relief. So is she going to be a real judge or some kind of joke? She’s a comedian, not a singer or a musician. I’m kinda flummoxed here.”Andy Dehnart, a reality television blogger at realityblurred.com, applauded the ‘random’ decision calling it a 90-degree turn that he thought would inject new life into the ageing singing competition. He also said the addition of DeGeneres as a judge would entice more viewers to tune in.
DeGeneres is to first appear on the reality series in the semi-final round, which apparently tends to be the ‘snooziest’ part of the season.Others on the Internet also said they were pleased with the new addition, despite having no formal music experience.In her talk show last week DeGeneres said, “Hopefully, I’m the people’s point of view because I’m just like you. I sit at home and I watch it, and I don’t have that technical … 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.”The hiring of DeGeneres completely seals the departure of Abdul, the original third judge who announced she was quitting due to a contract dispute in July.
