'I've been dying to tell everyone,' Ellen said. 'It's just been so hard to keep it a secret and we just finally got the OK and I'm so excited. It is going to be so much fun.'
- Sep 10, 2009
AceShowbiz - The producers of "American Idol" have found the person who will best suit as the replacement of Paula Abdul. Talk show host slash comedienne Ellen DeGeneres has been officially tapped to be the new judge of the talent show when it returns for the ninth season in January 2010.
FOX said in a statement released on Wednesday, September 9, "DeGeneres will sit alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi and offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition." DeGeneres will effectively sit on the panel after the audition rounds.
In return, DeGeneres expressed her excitement during the taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show". She said, "I'm thrilled to be the new judge on 'American Idol'. 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."
Still under contract with her daytime talk show, the 51-year-old is going to work day and night and continue doing both.
Regarding the fact that she is from a non-musical background, DeGeneres has her defense. "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. ... 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."
Paula Abdul walked out of the show after 8 years sitting as the judge. To fill in the vacant position when the audition started last month, the execs hired celebrity judges such as Shania Twain, Victoria Adams, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry.
