Ellen Degeneres is the new fourth judge on American Idol. When I first read about it, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke played either very late or very early.
I think Ellen is awesome and she clearly loves music but what she knows about singing could fit under a spec of dust. Just because someone is interested in something doesn’t make them an expert. It’s like asking David Hasselhoff to judge a talent competition! Oh, wait…..
The idea of plopping Ellen down with Randy, Simon and Kara just doesn’t sit right with me. Simon is a proven star-maker. Randy is the legitimate musician and producer of the bunch. And Kara, although she’s got the vocabulary and charm of a sand crab, has written songs and can actually sing. And then there’s Ellen who’s loveable, smart, funny but has zero experience with singing or song-making. Maybe she’s being put there for comic relief, to come up with a clever zinger after Kara sucks the life out of the show with every long-winded and banal critique. With Paula’s departure and a string of guest judges, American Idol is definitely a cash-cow in crisis. They should have gone with someone legit but I suppose anyone with strong, current ties to the music business was busy, making music.