Ellen Degeneres becomes American Idol's 4th Judge?!

Photo credit: Variety

Sure Ellen Degeneres is a household name and hilariously funny, but can she critique singing talent? Variety reported that Degeneres has signed on to become American Idol's fourth judge, replacing long-time resident Paula Abdul. Abdul was a music icon of the 80s with extensive experience in the industry. Meanwhile, Degeneres is best known for her TV sitcom "Ellen" and her hugely successful talk show "The Ellen Show." This latest decision seems to call into question the quality of today's television shows, even reality shows.

Degeneres was recently a guest judge on an episode of the dance talent show, "So You Think You Can Dance". Needless to say, her commentary was purely entertainment and consisted of no real critique of the dancing. Her lack of knowledge in the art was almost embarrassingly evident and her short commentary was made up of humorous but irrelevant jokes. So what can she really contribute to American Idol? The Variety article quotes Degeneres saying, "Hopefully, I'm the people's point of view... I'm looking at it as someone who's going to buy that music." But can't "the people" form their own opinions about the music?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Ellen fan. I often spend hours on Youtube just watching clips of her talk show or her commencement speech at Tulane University's graduation (which you can watch here). Nevertheless, I was hesitant to accept the idea when I first heard it, especially after thinking back to Degeneres' recent stint on STYCYD. I thought the producers of AI were ignoring the idea that this was a talent show and audiences needed knowledgeable judges to help steer their voting in the "right" direction. I imagined Ellen's spot on AI would become something of a joke. However, it was later in the day when I caught myself saying to my friends "Ellen's on American Idol? I would totally watch it just for her!"

And there it was, Fox's genius and motivation was revealed. Ellen's entrance on this show will inevitably draw in thousands of viewers that AI did not possess before. Her humor is enough to bring people to turn on the TV at least two times a week. I guess it's not all about the talent, it's inescapably about the number of eyes on the talent.

Read the article here.