If there was any doubt about the last statement, this year — Idol‘s ninth season — has effectively silenced it. Now that original judge Paula Abdul has packed up her crazy and headed home and co-creator Simon Cowell will be following her at the end of the year, the show has to redefine itself. And, judging by the choices they’ve made so far, the next season of the show could veer wildly off the rails.

While Ellen DeGeneres is a great host and TV personality, her role on Idol still doesn’t completely fit because she’s outside the music industry. Sure, she’s there to represent the voice of the common folk, but the common folk’s voice is well-represented already since they get to vote. Randy Jackson may have experience in the music biz, but he has been useless for about seven seasons now, recycling the same “It was pitchy, dawg” and “Girl, you can saaaang”-type comments for every contestant. This year, because the show hadn’t nailed DeGeneres down as a permanent judge by the time auditions started, a revolving door of celebrities took their turn appraising the wannabe singers. Some of the choices — Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, a Jonas brother — may not have been the most musically gifted, but their popularity on the Billboard charts at least gave them a reason to be on the show.

Now, though, it looks like Idol is desperate. One of the guest judges for this season is going to be … Paula Deen. As in, the Savannah chef who hosts multiple Food Network shows and is known for her unabashed embrace of the deep fryer. We may like a lot of Paula Deen’s food, but there’s absolutely no reason for her to be on Idol. In the past, guest judges always had some kind of connection — even a tenuous one — to the music industry. Guest judges/mentors like Mariah Carey, Burt Bacharach, and Dolly Parton provided both music advice and industry advice to the show’s contestants and provided them with great material to cover on the show. Quentin Tarantino popped in to guest judge on Season 3, and all they could come up with for his connection to music was that he likes to use a lot of it in his movies. We really can’t wait to see what farfetched reason they come up with to shoehorn Paula Deen onto the show — maybe it will be something borderline offensive, like asking her to guest judge on Country Week or something. Because you know what reminds us of Johnny Cash? Paula Deen. Yep. Totally logical. Replacing one Paula with another Paula is TOTALLY SUBTLE, Idol. Surely we won’t be able to tell the difference between the one with the Southern accent and the one who sounds like she’s drunk.

As for the ridiculous rumor the show was going to replace Simon Cowell with shock jock Howard Stern? It seems surprisingly likely now, considering that the producers are embracing their love of stunt casting.

(Photo by WENN)

Post from: Crushable

First of all, it’s a well-known fact that Ellen loves the show and watches it religiously. 

Secondly, I loved her as a guest judge on this past season of So You Think You Can Dance (she had the Top 10 contestants from Season 5 on her daytime talk show this week and it was fantastic – watch it!!!).

Thirdly, she will definitely attract an audience and hopefully she will keep bringing them back every week.  Ellen knows a lot about being a performer.  She knows about what it takes to be brave and different. 

And, finally, she brings some much-needed comic relief although I cannot imagine how they will keep her from rambling since that’s what she’s famous for!

In case you are wondering whether this is a rumor, Idol creator and executive producer, Simon Fuller, had the following to say:  "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. I can’t wait for this next season to begin."

So… now that you’ve heard what I think, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

image: Bauer-Griffin

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She described their little group as a “dysfunctional family of sorts” and added that she is “the nurturing mom, Simon [Cowell]’s the disapproving dad, and Randy [Jackson]’s the cool brother.  It’s been an interesting journey. It’s something that I’ll always would want to be a part of.”

While details about an actually renewed contract have yet to emerge, I do think this is a positive sign that the judging panel will not be too different from last year.   I think that Paula should remain with this show until it’s pulled off the air.  I don’t know if I would watch it if the judges were different.

You might have noticed that in her statement, Paula didn’t mention the newest judge, Kara DioGuardi.  I don’t know if that is just because Kara is so new or if Paula doesn’t think the other woman on the panel belongs in their “dysfunctional family.”  Either way, I hope Kara gets to come back.  One season wasn’t enough and I’m sure it was tough for her to be the “new kid.”  Hopefully, she will have more confidence and will feel more comfortable coming up with her own critiques.

Then again, maybe it’s better with three since there’s a good, bad and middle?  It’s hard to say because I also have watched the Canadian, British and French versions and they all work just fine with four judges.  It’s lame that these four couldn’t find a way to make it work.

image © 2009 FOX BROADCASTING CR: FOX

Post from: Crushable

I’m glad I didn’t fall for that (even though it might be true) since E! Online is saying that Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and newest judge, Kara DioGuardi, are still negotiating.  Apparently, Paula’s agent said: "The RadarOnline info is incorrect. Negotiations are continuing. You probably won’t hear anything until closer to September, when judges are needed back to go on the road."

So, what would you like to see happen?  I’d actually like to see another season with all four judges.  I don’t think one year is enough to judge the addition of a fourth judge.

image © 2009 FOX BROADCASTING CR: FOX

Post from: Crushable

It was, of course, an adorable little video with David telling Randy Jackson that he misses all the “dawg” comments, thanking Paula Abdul for all the nice (but weird) things she said about him, telling Simon Cowell that he’s very cool even though a lot of people are afraid of him and, finally, thanking Kara DioGuardi for working with him on his album.  What a sweetie!

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She’s quite fit, isn’t she?  I wasn’t sure what I thought of her before but I’m really starting to warm up to the idea of her being the fourth judge.   I think she’s going to bring something fresh to the show which, I hope, saves it from the doldrums.  Click on the images below to enlarge. 

Photo by Christopher Peterson/BuzzFoto.com

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