Ellen DeGeneres must be feeling the pinch of the recession like the rest of America because she's gone and gotten herself a second job. Not satisfied with tickling the minds and souls of women in the afternoon with her talk show, Ellen has decided to stick around for evening programming by joining the judges' panel on "American Idol." For the past four weeks, Idol has had to use guest judges to fill the void that Paula Abdul's abrupt departure has left, but this week Ellen, the chosen replacement, made her debut.
Ellen's first run during Hollywood week revealed that her trademark dry wit and humor would play a large role in her position as judge. Her biggest antagonist on the show, predictably, was Simon Cowell. However, unlike Paula, Ellen didn't play the loopy, ditzy foil to Simon's acerbic witty British persona. She was every bit his equal, offering up one-liners of her own and refraining from coddling contestants by offering compliments on their "heart" as Paula used to do.
The final verdict: So far, Ellen in the judge's seat is a win. She doesn't bring the same dynamic to the panel that Paula did, but then again, few could match that sort of irrationally perpetual exuberance. But she does bring a good energy to the show and a new set of ears. And while Ellen is straight-forward with her criticisms, she's nowhere near as ruthless as Simon. In terms of the judges' panel, it's the Ellen and Simon show right now. The other two judges, Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson, are beginning to feel like wallpaper. Their contributions are rarely revelatory and their personalities are vanilla compared to the cinnamon and spice of Ellen and Simon.
