Ellen Degeneres Bows Out of American Idol!
3rd Update: Ryan Seacrest reacts to Ellen’s departure, via twitter, “Spoke with ellen d tonight aka @theellenshow??. I will miss her on idol. She’s one of the kindest and most talented people in hollywood!”
2nd Update: As recent as last week, THR reports, Ellen’s reps told them she “was still willing to fulfill her multi-year contract with the show.”
Update: Simon Cowell makes a statement about Ellen’s departure to The Hollywood Reporter: “As I got to know Ellen, I grew to really, really like her. I have huge respect for her because she’s always been in control of her own destiny.”
Via People:
Filling Simon Cowell‘s seat on American Idol was already a tough task –- now another chair is there for the taking.
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who became a full-time judge on the show during its ninth season, is bowing out of the series, PEOPLE has learned.
“A couple months ago, I let FOX and the American Idol producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” she says in a statement. “I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for.”
DeGeneres adds, “I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on Idol and I am very grateful for the year I had, I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”
Statement from Simon Fuller: “I loved Ellen’s passion for the artists and her nurturing skills. She brought honesty and optimism to our judging panel and I will miss her greatly.”
Statement from Peter Rice, FOX Entertainment Cheif: “We love Ellen and understand and support her decision to bow out of Idol. We were fortunate to receive the humor, energy and love for talent that she brought to the show.”
I had doubts about Ellen from the get go. She had no background in the music business. Her stint as So You Think You Can Dance judge really really sucked. There were questions about whether she could critique talent honestly, and it turned out she couldn’t.
Not only didn’t she add anything to the panel, she was like the odd duck, never really gelling with her fellow panelists. Chemistry was sorely lacking amongst the judges this year. It’s got to be the #1 consideration when TPTB put this panel back together again for Season 10.
So what do you think? Should the entire panel be overhauled? Should we go back to a 3 judge panel? (I vote YES) Who would you like to see on the panel?
Posted in American Idol
83 Responses to “Ellen Degeneres Bows Out of American Idol!”
Ellen is a smart cookie…she’s jumping from the sinking ship. I think season 10 just might be the last.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the judges panel for season 10 is made up of Kara, Randy, and Nigel.
3 Panel Judge’s not 4. Nigel Lythgoe has made it clear that he wants it to go back to 3 judges. Hmm Randy has something to add and I think he should stay. Kara can be good, and has decent chemistry with Randy, however her comments are not so helpful. If they bring on someone like Nigel Lythgoe( I know, he said he was just coming back to produce the show, but you never know. He is snarky) that would work. Especially since they may want to add the ability for contestants to dance and sing..ala, “Bieber” style. Think about it, that would be a perfect panel. He is snarky for sure. Then add a Jessica Simpson, to get the younger crowd, and that might work. I love Chris Issak, (I love True Blood and the song he sings for the opening),and he has produced, but how well known is he to the audience? Although that may not matter. If they stay with 4 judges ( as MUCH as I think Nigel should replace Simon) I think it will probably be Jessica, Randy, Kara, and Chris. 3 judges then I think it will be Kara, Randy and Jessica. If Kara resigns, then who the heck knows, that announcement could come on Monday. Or they could surprise us and do a complete change and have Guest Judges every week!! We will see on Monday. But if Nigel is on the panel, watch out AI.:)
I think that the show will be better off with Ellen leaving. I didn’t think that her becoming a judge was a good idea in the first place. IMO, she didn’t really fit in on the panel and wasn’t very good as an Idol judge.
I would be fine with the show going back to a 3 judge panel, but four judges could be interesting depending on what two judges they might get.
I would be fine with Kara leaving as well. I don’t care for her as an Idol judge. I would like for Randy to stick around.
If Nigel came on board then I think they should keep randy and just add a female. That formula seemed to work and really Nigel is the closest thing to Simon. Not just because he’s English. He has the presence and the experience to give mindful critiques that make sense and hold weight. I think someone contemporary like Jessica Simpson would be good. I wish it were someone cool like Pink but since she’s got a legit career and all…J. Simpson might be the best we can get! If they got Harry Connick to replace Randy and then added Nigel and J. Simpson…I think it would be a lot of fun.
Ditto!
That’s not Chris Isaak on True Blood…it’s Jace Everett. Sounds like him but it’s not.
Good. Now get rid of Kara. Maybe Shania as a replacement.
I still think moving Ryan to 3rd judge and Cat Deeley as host would be a winner.
Ellen’s seat should NOT be filled. Only if Kara and/or Randy (hopefully both) go should additional judges be added.
Good. Now get rid of Kara and add two new judges and I’ll be happy.
Honestly, I am not sorry to see her go. I like her as a personality and as a comedienne. But she was just a fish out of water on AI who didn’t add any value to the show. They really do need to have judges with a musical background.
Yep, give up on one of the top rated shows on television. Just like Willie Sutton leaving the money in the bank.
LOL!! Exactly. It cracked me up when the media would gleefully trumpet, “Idol Ratings Down!!!” Yeah. Down to 20 million plus viewers per show.
I really do like Ellen, and I don’t fault her for the dreariness of Season 9. But, I’m glad she realized that the show just isn’t the right fit for her. I wish Kara would come to that realization as well. I have no doubt Kara knows more about the business than either Simon or Randy, but she doesn’t make for good TV. And Idol needs to be good TV.
Even with all its problems this past season, including lower ratings, American Idol STILL came in as the #1 most watched show in all of television. Unless it totally tanks next season, and I mean totally, AI is not going anywhere anytime soon.
So they might as well try to make it better, right?
I expressed my resounding no on Ellen before the show even started; and she didn’t change my mind during it. Straw that broke the camel’s back was her lame joke during Casey/Mike’s duet; with no comment whatsoever on their great result.
Get rid of Kara and bring back Paula, IMO.
She would be awesome but agree it would never happen. Two other people I think would be great judges would be Diddy and Faith Hill. I used to watch Making the Band on MTV and Diddy would have no problem being honest and critical and he makes for good TV. Plus he knows what he is talking about and maybe he could help find some more current R&B artists for the show. I think Faith is really likeable and could be a source of positive encouragement for the contestants while still being very knowledgeable and helpful.
Yes, I agree get rid of Kara and bring back Paula. Keep it at 3 judges, don’t need 4 judges!
THANK YOU ELLEN! Now to hope they stick to only 3 judges.
I am not surprised. Ellen was a penance deal to settle her infringement case with Sony. Now that Sony is out, no need for her to stay. The question is when will it be announced that Fremantle is out as well?
I love Ellen, but I don’t think she added much to this particular show. She’s right, it just wasn’t a good fit. Her comments show again why I think she’s a fabulous person. Ellen always keeps it classy.
I know it’s a minority opinion, but I actually like having Kara as a judge. She’s the only one that comments on the actual performance. I think Randy just lives on a planet other than mine.
Sorry, I wasn’t aware of that. I’m not up on all the Adam news, much less the olds.
I think there’s a difference between judging a singer within the confines of Idol, which would be the job at hand, and voicing personal opinions about an artist outside of that arena. Whatever Gene Simmons’ feelings towards Adam Lambert, I don’t really care about. As long as he doesn’t voice those opinions about actual contestants while he’s judging them on the show, he’d be good for the job. Just my opinion.
I don’t think it makes sense to get rid of Kara now that she has found her sea legs. She was better this season than last, and after seeing her in interviews she is growing on me. She knows a lot about the biz.
Still, she’s probably my least favorite judge.
They’ll need 4 judges to fill the void left by Simon.
Well, Jennifer Lopez is replacing Ellen. Jennifer has a similar feel for me to Paula Abdul – so I think she’ll do a good job. I’d like to see Kara moved from judge role to mentor – and have her work seriously with the idols each week in the studio on recording their songs. That’s her strength – and I think she could teach them a lot.
Then, to replace Simon …. if not Elton John (who would be so incredibly super), then a great seasoned producer would be good. You need to find someone who’s going to be HONEST and not pull punches.
I don’t really give a crap what Gene Simmons did or did not say about Adam, so that’s not an issue for me. I do however think he’s a self-aggrandizing blowhard who’d never be able to see past his own ego long enough to even pay attention to the contestants.
And Jessica Simpson trash talked about Carrie Underwood to country radio while trying to make it in country music (how’d that work out for ya Jess?). That and her string of failed albums, movies, and reality TV show didn’t stop the AI suits from meeting with her. *shrugs* I think she’d be a terrible judge because somebody who’s spent her whole career copying other people and never figuring out how to sing properly has no business being a judge on AI. I don’t think Gene Simmons would make a good judge either because I think he’d make the show about himself.
I wish Ellen the best. She seemed to lose her appetite for being a judge as the season wore on. What the panel loses with her is the person who’d actually be willing to listen to music outside the mainstream box. I hope they can find a judge who has that mentality.
Randy is useless as a judge but I think he’ll stay for some continuity. Kara’s value as a judge is as a songwriter but more so as somebody who’s a label exec which replaces a part of Simon’s role. No to Paula and anyway I think she’s tied up with her CBS contract. If Kara and Randy stay then you need a judge who is a performer. My vote would be for Harry Connick Jr or Shania if she’s up for it. If you can move Kara to a weekly mentoring role instead of her being a judge then a panel of Randy/Shania/Steve Lillywhite or Randy/Shania/Harry Connick Jr. would be very good IMO.
Edit: Jennifer Lopez as the performer/judge is actually not a bad idea either IMO. She’d make very good TV and I think she’d make a good, articulate judge too.
I was excited for Ellen to come on the show, but she clearly was never comfortable critiquing. The last couple of shows she seemed to have already checked out. No surprise, this announcement. The rumors of Simon’s replacement have me amazed, tho. None of them seem to make sense.
I’m not joining in on the whole yay Ellen’s gone tribute.
I liked Ellen a lot on the panel and thought her personality was just fine and also thought she could have been even better this yr. I do wonder if she didn’t like the manipulations of the critiques however and this is why it became less fun for her.
I do admit that I believe Jennifer Lopez is a good fit, so I hope this news is true because it will help me feel better about the show.
Hmmm, Simon the second? I don’t like the idea of Gene Simons. Too gimicky imo.
My husband and I both like the idea of HCJ. If not for judge, for the band and helping the contestants behind the scenes, and then featuring it from time to time. If they went w/ 3 judges then he could be featured more with the band…
I don’t think she’d do it in a million years, but Linda Perry could fill Simon’s shoes. Says exactly what’s on her mind, and knows music and the industry inside and out.
Has anyone yet mentioned that it’s quite possible Ellen didn’t like how manipulative things were behind the scenes either? At times later in the season (when people have said it seemed she “checked out”) I felt like honestly she just didn’t want to say anything…probably because what she really wanted to say went against the grain of what TPTB wanted. It’s hard for me to both accept that Ellen was in over her head AND that when the judges picked songs for the top 3, she made probably the best, most logical pick for any of them for Crystal (none of them turned out as bad as people thought they might be, but her pick for Crystal was excellent and might have been even better had Crystal flipped the gender…another story though). Her dismissal of Casey and Mike’s duet with her one comment was probably something that was almost totally scriped and planned – they weren’t the 2 that TPTB wanted, and Ellen’s comment helped to marginalize their performance…but I doubt that was all she really had to say or felt about it. She showed earlier in the season that she was far more perceptive than that, even if she wasn’t a music industry pro.
Too many of the names being tossed around for judges are just way too “out there” for me. People say “the show needs to be about the singers, not the judges,” and then people mention the likes of Elton John, Howard Stern, Bret Michaels, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Gene Simmons…seriously people? The original 3 judges (Randy, Paula, and Simon) included only one person that the majority of music fans would have recognized in Paula. If you want the show to be about the contestants and not the judges, this is going in the wrong direction. In other words, say Randy stays, and Kara goes, and they go with a 3 judge panel. Worst case you could have Randy, Elton John, and say Jennifer Lopez. People will be far more interested in what Elton and J-Lo have to say than how the contestants sing. Really what we need are LESS famous, but qualified, judges, otherwise the show will become more about the judging panel than the contestants. Wasn’t that one of the big complaints this season? Imagine even bigger names lined up in front.
HCJ, maybe. If so, keep Randy…and keep Kara too, and have those 3. I think few of the other names floated would keep the focus in the end on the contestants – the attention will just gravitate towards the judges. And more of those awful guest artists like we saw this past season. If they *have* to have 4, Randy, Kara, HCJ…and someone not yet mentioned. Anyone else is too high-profile. I still say Paul Shaffer. He knows music, is blunt, but has a great sense of humor. He could almost replace Simon straight up, IMO.
Sorry – computer playing up- sent my answer to the wrong thread!!
I tend to agree. I think that the judge comments are scripted, and that they each have a role to play. For example, Kara was paying Paula at the beginning of season 9, but her role changed as the season progressed and she slowly took over Simon’s industry insider role, and Ellen got Paula’s role.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ellen didn’t like any of this, or the behind the scene contestant manipulations.
They need people who are charismatic, good actors, but don’t have too many principles for the job.
TMZ is reporting that Kara is out.
I have a question, I’m wondering if Ellen’s ElevenEleven created a conflict of interest with her being a judge. she has always had the eliminated idols on her show, But maybe since idol has certain labels and ElevenEleven doesn’t fall under idol, maybe this caused a compication in her contract and her only way out was to resign or be fired. Just curious.