More American Idol changes and gossip this week and it wasn’t all good.
First off, I was a bit unsure to whether I was going to like Ellen DeGeneres when it was announced she would be taking Paula Abdul’s place on Idol. The first couple of episodes were a bit awkward. I mean, after all, what does Ellen know about music other than how to dance to it?
Then, about half way through the season, Ellen hit her stride. What she said wasn’t really relevant to helping the contestants, but she was funny and a bit like Paula, she seemed to make the contestants often feel better after being bashed by other judges.
Well, I hope you didn’t get used to have Ellen around because she announced this week she is outta here – peace. Okay, she didn’t quite say it like that, but she is leaving Idol after just one season. Can you say rats leaving a sinking ship?
Ellen said she told the producers “a couple of months ago” that she just wasn’t a good fit for the show and wanted out. She said it was difficult to leave, but her work schedule was overloaded and while she loved “discovering, supporting, and nurturing young talent,” it was hard for her to judge them. She even said she hated when Simon Cowell was mean to the contestants.
Even though she’s leaving, Ellen will get a say so in whom Simon’s replacement will be.
So now, there will be two judges’ shoes to fill on Idol. While some names such as Justin Timberlake, Quincy Jones, Babyface, Russell Simmons, Harry Connick Jr., Elton John, and Jessica Simpson have been thrown around to replace Simon, now Diddy says he might like a crack at the job.
Of course, Diddy said he would be willing to replace Simon if he got Simon’s paycheck. He said, “At first when people were asking me if I was interested in the job I was like, ‘no,’ you know, my ego was involved and all of that [and I said] ‘No, that’s not my style, I’m going to let them go do that.” But then Diddy realized how much Simon made and said “I would love the job! I was just like, ‘I got six kids.’”
Hum, I think I’d rather see Quincy Jones get the job.