Ellen DeGeneres Quits American Idol

Ellen DeGeneres said she quit American Idol yesterday. According to  TMZ,  popular daytime talk show host and one of American Idol season 9 judges Ellen DeGeneres, said that she quit the show yesterday after being on there for just one season. They say that she’s claiming it wasn’t the right fit. She took to her “Twitter” account to make the announcement. She wrote,  “Dim the lights. I’ve voted myself off American Idol.”

Ellen says that she came to her decision a couple of months ago. She stated, “It was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I am very grateful for the year I had. I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.” They’ve also reported that Kara DioGuardi got fired from American Idol yesterday. They are going back to the three-judge format,and have reportedly completed a deal to bring singer/actress Jennifer Lopez on to replace Kara.

The only way Kara could get back on,is if Jennifer’s deal goes sour. Aerosmith lead singer, Steven Tyler is reportedly replacing Ellen on the show. However,that deal has not been conformed at this time.

American Idol: Ellen DeGeneres Out with Jennifer Lopez Latest Possible Simon Cowell Replacement

Each day seems to have someone new being the Simon Cowell replacement on American Idol.

Yesterday the replacement was rumored to be Jessica Simpson. That seemed ridiculous. Before Jessica, Justin Timberlake was the supposed replacement. Timberlake made more sense than Simpson.

Today's rumored Simon Cowell replacement is Jennifer Lopez. Ms. Lopez has long had a reputation for being difficult, so maybe she'd be an entertaining judge.

Yesterday when I blogged about the bizarre Jessica Simpson rumor I mentioned that I thought Ellen DeGeneres had grown increasingly tiresome as last season's American Idol drug to its lackluster conclusion.

And now today the big American Idol news is that Ellen DeGeneres is out, having told the American Idol producers that she did not think she was a good fit for the show. I'd agree with that.

But Jennifer Lopez? Why don't the American Idol producers dangle the same big bucks they were giving to Simon Cowell in front of Harry Connick, Jr. and hope it entices him to replace Simon Cowell.

Supposedly Kara DioGuardi has not yet been signed for the coming season of American Idol. Good. Give her the boot too and bring back Paula Abdul.

Harry Connick, Jr., Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson might just be the mix that stops American Idol's ratings slide.

Then again, once a show Jumps the Shark and starts to slide, usually nothing reverses the inevitable slippage to eventual cancellation day.

Is Jessica Simpson Replacing Simon Cowell on American Idol?

I thought it a ridiculous concept when I read this morning that Jessica Simpson is rumored to be the replacement for Simon Cowell on American Idol.

I like Jessica Simpson. She can be funny. Often not on purpose.

But, if American Idol has not already Jumped the Shark. And I think it has. Adding Jessica Simpson will surely be the final Jump of the Shark for this particular show.

Jessica Simpson would be like the anti-Simon Cowell. Where he was mean, snippy and, well, brutally honest, Jessica Simpson is just a sweet-natured nice Texas girl.

So, you'd have Jessica sitting next to the ever more annoying Kara DioGuardi, sitting next to the ever less amusing, borderline tiresome Ellen DeGeneres, sitting next to the only original left, Randy Jackson.

I just can't picture it. But, I guess I'd want to tune in, just to watch the absurdity of it.

American Idol Season 10 Lowers Audition Age

American Idol's Season 10 auditions start July 17. I don't think Simon Cowell has been replaced yet.

If there were a place to place a bet, I'd place a bet that this is the year when American Idol falls from its #1 top-rated TV show position.

Yesterday it was announced that American Idol is lowering the audition age by one year, so now singer wannabes who are between 15 and 28 are eligible.

15 years old? This does not seem like a good idea to me.

Now, I would have some hope for the survival of American Idol, after Season 9's total lacklusterness, if yesterday it was announced that Harry Connick Jr. was replacing Simon Cowell, that Paula Abdul was returning, and that Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres had been booted.

If you are between 15 and 28 and think you can warble like Carrie Underwood and Lee DeWyze go to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Saturday, July 17, Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Wednesday, July 21, an undisclosed location in New Orleans on Monday, July 26, IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Tuesday, August 3, Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, August 11 and AT & T Park in San Francisco on Thursday, August 19.

I think I'll audition for American Idol this year. Austin is a short drive from my current location. I'm sure I can pass for 28. Do they ask to see I.D.? What I.D. would a 15 year old have?

American Idol has Jumped the Shark with Didgeridoos & Bagpipes & Dippy Kara

Dancing With The Stars was #1 in the latest Nielsen Ratings, coming out on top of American Idol for the first time.

I'm thinking this marks the end of American Idol's rating's dominance, after a slow decline, a decline which began with what I believe was American Idol's Jump the Shark moment, that being the hiring of the extremely annoying and extremely un-entertaining, Kara DioGuardi, as a 4th judge.

Jumping the Shark is a term that is used to mark the moment a previously successful TV show begins to decline, where the show starts to tinker with its formula in attempts to slow up it's decline. In regular series this may be ridiculous plot changes, like when the Conner family became rich due to winning the lottery. Roseanne did not last long after that. Often when producers note a decline, things like cast changes are made, i.e. Kara DioGuardi.

The Jump the Shark phrase came from a Happy Days episode where tough guy, Fonzie, in swimming suit and leather jacket, puts on water skis and proceeds to jump over a shark, turning the already cartoonish Fonzie into a ridiculous joke, marking the decline of Happy Days, which continued another 7 years after Fonzie did his shark jumping.

I suspect the decline of American Idol will come much quicker.

The Kara addition last year was followed by this year's expulsion of Paula Abdul, with Abdul replaced by Ellen DeGeneres. Initially, many viewers thought the Ellen addition would be a good thing, but judging from what I read on TV Forums, a lot of the viewers have reacted the same as I have, in that, Ellen's sense of humor grows stale. She adds little.

This year American Idol has tweaked its production. Take last night for example. We see backstage scenes, intro clips, an additional after the judging moment of camera time, followed by being greeted by the other singers.

Somehow there is way way way more time for judges' comments. We start with Randy, end with Simon, and sometimes go back and forth with further comments. Then Ryan asks some more followup questions. Even the contestant gets into it with questions and comments.

Last year, with 4 judges yapping, I remember one instance where time was so short there was no time for Simon to say anything, so he just stood and gave Adam Lambert a standing ovation.

Were the shows only an hour long at this point last year? Is that why there is so much bloat, this year? Filling up 2 hours? I could not watch this without the DVR invention.

Ironically, with the production values seeming to be amped up, with a lot more camera time spent on the contestants, this is widely believed to be the lamest final group the show has ever found.

Another Jump the Shark thing is people seem to be laughing at the judges in a way they didn't before. As in they seem to have made jokes of themselves. Last week Tim Urban was widely seen to have owned the judges, flipping it back on them in a good-humored way. This week, as if the judges realized how bad they'd been, flipped the other direction and heaped positive on the boy. He did not seem to know quite what to make of it.

It now seems obvious, to many, that losing Paula Abdul greatly altered the chemistry of American Idol, in a very bad way. Kara's odd interacting with Simon has really put people off. It has none of the loopy charm Paula brought to her Simon interactions.

The final nail in the American Idol coffin will be Simon Cowell leaving. Simon has seemed a bit detached at times, like his heart isn't in it. And really, why would it be?

Were the didgeridoo and bagpipes last night more minor shark jumping? With way too much time focused on both?

Tim Urban for the win. That'd be an awesome Jump the Shark moment for American Idol.

UPDATE: Wednesday's Results Show reminded me I forgot one other American Idol Jump the Shark element, that being the Judge's Save that was added a season or two ago.

American Idol's Contrary Cranky Bad Judges Picking On Tiny Tim Urban

Yes, I know I said I was done with American Idol. And then I went and watched it last night, well, fast forwarded through it, and was freshly annoyed.

Tim Urban will be my example of what annoys me. That is he in the picture. He is only 20. Just a kid.

So, last week the so-called Judges, who are more accurately called Contrary Cranks, made a big deal about how the singers were now on a Big Stage, the Kodak Theater, and that they needed to amp it up to fill the stage. Or something like that.

Miley Cyrus, who is younger than just about all but one, was the guest mentor. That in itself is just odd. Miley seemed to like Tim okay and encouraged him. He does not get a lot of encouragement from anyone associated with this show. Or so it seems.

Tim sang Queen's The Thing About Love, or some title like that. Catchy tune you've heard countless times. Tim does his singing, slides across the stage, works the crowd, has the little girls all thrilled, as he does the rock star act of touching hands with the screamers.

Tim finishes. Randy Jackson says something unflattering. I don't remember what. Oh, part of it was that standard useful criticism, "very karaoke, dude."

Then the increasingly useless Ellen DeGeneres opined that it was like watching High School Musical with Tim being Zac Ephron. I may be getting the name wrong. Ellen also mentioned that Tim had a lot of fans who likely loved what he'd just done, but she was not one of them.

The wretchedly annoying Kara DioGuardi then told Tim he had not sold millions of albums, that he had no business acting like an established artist by working the crowd like he did, this, after Ellen had just opined Tim had a lot of adoring fans. And after the Contrary Cranks had told the singers to work harder at filling the stage.

Then Simon Cowell delivered the final Bitch Slap. Telling Tim he had absolutely no chance of winning this competition, that what he'd done on stage was utter corny rubbish.

I forget which of these idiots told Tim he needed to get some vocal training. Why was this not noticed before Tim was in the Final 11? If indeed it is true.

So, if Tim is so bad, how is it that he is in the Top 11? That he was in the Top 24? That he made it to Hollywood? Oh, that's right, it's the Idiot Contrary Cranks who put Tim on the show so they could have themselves a real fine time seeing how badly they could crush the kid's self esteem.

Anyway, American Idol has really Jumped the Shark for me. All 4 of those Contrary Crank so-called Judges need a severe Bitch Slapping.

For Me American Idol Has Jumped The Shark

That is Crystal Bowersox. She got sick last week and so the boys sang on the girl's regular song night, while the girl's sang on the boy's regular song night, with Crystal leading off the night's singing, recovered from her mysterious ailment.

Last week I blogged about the boy's show. I was so bored by it and so annoyed at how inane the American Idol judges have become, when the girl's seemed even worse to me, I didn't have the stomach or desire to blog about it.

I sort of decided I was done with American Idol. For me it has jumped the shark. I think the jump started with the addition of Kara DioGuardi, accelerated with the dropping of Paula Abdul and went into full jump mode with the addition of Ellen DeGeneres.

I thought Ellen DeGeneres was going to be fun. But we are only a few weeks in and she has grown tiresome. And sort of repetitive.

After what has it been, 8 years, or is it 9, of American Idol, Simon Cowell needs some new cliches. "That was very karaoke." "I've heard a performance like that a million times on a cruise ship." "That was something I could have heard at a theme park." "That was like some dreadful wedding singer." He's become a very tiresome old man.

And then, the comments seem even more mean-spirited than previous years, if that's possible. Cowell comments about Casey James' voice, saying something like his gritty tone seems forced, more like sand. To which Kara adds it sounds like dirt. How are these remarks helpful?

And then, one of the 4 who got sent home, this week, was 16 year old Haley Vaughn. The judges told her she just was not ready for this, she needs more training. Huh? Out of the thousands who tried out these idiots put her in the Top 24. And then decided she was not ready.

I also was not getting the pimping of the Bowersox girl. She seems nice enough, but nothing that I look forward to hearing again. I don't remember another season of American Idol where I can find so little entertainment. Of the girls I like the blonde who played the piano, but I don't remember her name, which is telling. I also like Casey James. At least he has a personality and seems like a normal guy.

I've got 24 DVRed, ready to watch tonight, did not have time to watch 24 last night. I may, maybe, give American Idol one more chance, maybe.

Tyler Grady & 3 Others I Don't Remember Sent Home on American Idol

Of the 4 who got sent home, last night, on American Idol's result show, which I did not watch, the only one who's name I recognized and remembered is Tyler Grady.

He was the Jim Morrison wannabe with unfortunate hair and odd body movements. He seemed like a nice guy with a sense of humor.

The other guy to get the boot was Joe Munoz.

The 2 girls going home were Ashley Rodriguez and Janell Wheeler.

I have no mental image of Joe, Ashley or Janell.

American Idol is not working for me this year. The entertainment factor seems to have taken a plummet. I am fairly certain the plummet is not entirely due to the absence of Paula Abdul.

But, Paula Abdul did provide a good measure of amusing banter and sparring with Simon Cowell.

Kara DioGuardi wears on my nerves. I really don't know why. Something about her seems unnatural and forced. A criticism she levels at the singers at times. I don't think it's her faux pas which tire me, things like saying 1901 when she means 2001. If it continues into next week, the swooning over Casey James is going to really cross way over into this is stupid land.

This year Randy Jackson seems different. Like he is talking in complete articulate sentences with a bare minimum of cheesy slang. Maybe he wised up to the fact that it is not a good look for a man closer to retirement age than teen age to be using teenage type hipster slang lingo.

And then there is Ellen DeGeneres. I've always liked her in any venue I've seen her. Til now. Again, I don't quite know why. She really is not being all that funny. At least to me. I heard Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on the radio, Live with Ryan Seacrest, cracking up over Ellen's ripen like a banana remark she made on Wednesday to one of the boy singers. I don't think Randy and Kara have what might be called a highly evolved sense of humor.

As for Ryan Seacrest. Did he take How To Act Overly Earnest lessons since last season? He does not seem to be cracking wise as often as I used to enjoy.

And then there are the singers this year. This year the only one, so far, who has somewhat stood out to me, is the aforementioned, Casey James. I did find the taking off his shirt thing a bit embarrassing, but not for him, embarrassing for Kara D to have asked him to do so, and thus begin her chronic swooning.

I am not all that great a judge of who is swoonworthy. Casey James seems like a real nice guy, and even to my tone-deaf ears he seems to sing well, but I don't get the swooning or the Jessica Simpson hairstyle.

On more than one occasion, this year, we've heard at least one of the judges remark that this is the best group they've ever found. I take this as double-speak to actually mean this is the worst group they have ever found.

Because, that's how it seems to me. I may keep watching.

Ellen DeGeneres American Idol Debut

Ellen DeGeneres, 52, has joined Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on the new season of American Idol. She has already started taping “Hollywood week” on Tuesday night.

Daily mail observed that the majority of people posting about DeGeneres on Twitter praised her. Some said they were only tuning in for DeGeneres, but not everyone was a devotee.

MTV said that the new judge receives mostly positive reviews, although one critic complains she said 'nothing of consequence.'

The episode is scheduled to air on Wednesday.

Do you think the popular talk show host made a good A.I. judge?

The Bachelor: Evicted Potential Wife Michelle Kujawa Not Crazy on The Ellen Show

That is Michelle Kujawa on The Ellen Show with Ellen DeGeneres pointing to various remaining potential wife material ,for Jake Pavelka, on The Bachelor: Wings of Love.

Michelle is the potential wife who seemed to be so bat crazy that Jake sent her home last week, just walked her to the curb, no need to wait for the silly Rose Ceremony.

Michelle made for some great awkward TV moments on The Bachelor, like her complete lack of a sense of humor, as evidenced by her stand up routine at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club.

The best Michelle moment was asking Jake if she could kiss him, then after a way too long lip lock, complained to Jake about the kiss, which is what led quickly to her eviction.

So, I expected to see some new craziness from Michelle on The Ellen Show. Ellen's very funny. How would Michelle, with no sense of humor, be able to relate?

Well, I don't know who this Michelle is who was on The Ellen Show, but it was not the same girl we saw on The Bachelor. The Ellen Show Michelle was likable, charming, laughed at Ellen's banter, didn't say anything off, came across as a totally normal, not crazy, nice lady. Michelle said positive things about the other girls. Just like viewers, said she did not understand the animosity towards Vienna.

Watch The Ellen Show YouTube video below and you'll see what I mean about this Michelle seeming like a totally different person than the person we watched on The Bachelor...