Paula Abdul finally speaks.
She took to twitter to share her thoughts on Ellen DeGeneres’s new gig as Idol judge, “I think Ellen will b a gr8 judge on Idol. She is wildly funny, talented and I wish her the best of luck!’ So, what else was she going to say?
RadarOnline claims “sources” close to Paula has her “stunned.” Says the source, ‘Privately, Paula is very upset. She’s never going to admit it publicly but this stung.” Paula, according to this version of events, privately believed a last minute deal could be worked out. Whatevs.
A few Season 8 kids react to the news HERE. Matt Giraud said, “I think she’s like the biggest idol fan in the world so it’s making her dreams come true.” But Scott MacIntyre wonders, “It’s going to be really interesting. I have no idea what to expect. I probably would not have guessed that in a million years.”
Randy Jackson says Ellen can be “the voice of the people among us, ” and tells MTV, everyone will get along, “”We’re friends of hers already, so she’s good people.”
Kara DioGuardi tells XM Satellite Radio, “I think she’s going to bring so much to the show. She’s somebody who loves music. She’s positive. She loves kids. She’s somebody who has watched the show from the beginning, knows everything there is to know about American Idol. And I think ultimately it’s going to be a great new energy.’
On Simon Cowell, Ellen tells Extra “I’m not the kind of person he’s gonna be pinching, playing with; drawing mustaches on.” Hm.
What do the fans and the bloggers think? Several articles gather opinions from around the net: USA Today, MTV, New York Times and Reality Blurred. Why yes, I’m quoted in all of them! Thanks for asking!
The LA Times gets the opinion of an advertising expert, “I think it’s kind of surprising because she does have a talk show, but it just points to the fact that they’re looking more for an entertainment perspective as opposed to perhaps a singing criteria, ” says Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research for Horizon Media Inc. He thinks the addition of Ellen to the show could be “a shot in the arm” for a show with steadily declining ratings. Also Team Idol is totally amazed they pulled off Operation Ellen with nary a leak to the press…
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Fox reality show chief Mike Darnell shoots down the h8ters who criticize Ellen’s lack of experience, “”Blah blah blah. We think that’s silly. We already got three judges. We used to only have three who have enormously long musical backgrounds. She brings something different. She brings her wit and love of music. She has a vision of what she likes and doesn’t like. Really, does it matter? It’s about America voting. She’s going to add a different flavor, that’s the whole idea.”
Idol producers tell EW that hiring Ellen was a unanimous and easy decision, and when they contacted Ellen, she was incredibly enthusiastic about the gig.
The Chicago Sun-Times has sources that claim the idea to hire Ellen began with Simon Cowell, after he appeared on her talk show several months ago. Also, Paula had remained in negotiations with Fox, even after she twitter-quit. But, according to the source, she was unrealistic about the money, and that was that. Less than half a dozen people in the Fox camp who knew about Ellen’s negotiations–keeping the story from leaking to the press.
Not Idol related: Record companies are suing Ellen’s talk show for copyright infringement–mostly for the songs that are played as she dances over to her desk from the audience at the top of the show. According to the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, when recording company reps asked the defendants why they hadn’t obtained licenses to use the songs, they answered that they didn’t “roll that way.” Representatives from Ellen say they have been working with the labels for months to resolve the issue. One of the plaintiffs is Sony Music, record label of the Idols’ signed to 19R…
