Ellen judges American Idol

Posted on 8 Feb 2010 - by Katkat In: TV Shows/Movies/Books

Ellen judges American Idol

We all know that Paula Abdul has been “voted off” American Idol and Ellen Degeneres is replacing her as the 4th judge. She will begin her “trial” on next week’s episode. I am so thrilled that the funny and nice Ellen will lend some kind of levity to the show. Though I sometimes get annoyed by Paula’s encouraging and sometimes out-of-the-context comments, I wonder how Ellen, a non-professional in music industry, will give credibility to the show. But as someone has mentioned, she’s there just for comic relief.

Here are some snippets of her interview about judging on American Idol:

On her judging credibility:

"Hopefully I’m the people’s point of view because I’m just like you. 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.

On watching American Idol:

“I couldn’t watch American Idol last night because I was busy working on American Idol last night.”

On working 2 jobs:

“Usually I’m in bed by 9 p.m., seriously, or 9:15 p.m. if I’m feeling crazy, but last night we were there until today. If they keep going like this, I’m going to have to put my pajamas on.”

On telling contestants they won’t make the cut:

“I don’t like that and I’m not that kind of person — because they have a name for a person who likes to hurt people’s feelings — it’s called ‘Simon’”

On Simon Cowell:

"I’m not going to be mean. I hate when Simon’s that mean. You can be constructive and you can criticise somebody in a way that’s helpful instead of mean-spirited."

"He’s actually meaner than I thought. It’s hard to listen to him tell people things and me not to go, ‘You poor thing!’"

On Paula Abdul:

"I don’t know if I’ll be as nurturing as she is. She always found a positive thing to say instead of attacking. I’ll probably try to be somewhat encouraging … When you’re by yourself on stage I know what that feels like and I know it doesn’t feel good, especially with millions of people watching. But I’ll be honest. I don’t think it helps anybody to be encouraged and not told the truth."

On her judging a contestant:

"You frightened me. You were stalking us. You were like a leopard behind a cage.”

Stay tuned to American Idol!