1st and foremost, I LOVE ELLEN! I think Ellen is a great comedian. I think her talk show is the best show on the air right now (my all-time fave talk-show: The Rosie O'Donnell Show because it featured Broadway actors & performances...yea, yea...I know, I know!). I think she has done amazing charity work and promotion in regards to animal causes. I think she, more than anyone, has kept New Orleans in the news and has done a lot to bring attention to the recovery efforts of the city after Hurricane Katrina's destruction. She is the gay role model I respect the most. And I love how she connects with people and is able to bring their stories to life. Ellen, to me, is REAL.
But the question that needs to be asked is 'Why is Ellen Quitting Idol?' The official answer that Ellen gave about her decision was this:
"It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for. 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 do believe this explanation as to why Ellen was not a good choice to be a judge on American Idol from the get go. When Paula Abdul left American Idol, the producers thought that they could just replace Abdul with someone who had experience performing in front of an audience, could relate with people and be funny. While Ellen does perform in front of audiences, could relate to people and is very,very funny, she is not Abdul 'funny'. I think the Idol producers made a mistake thinking 'acting funny' was the same as 'being funny'.
When Ellen joined the Idol cast, I asked myself: "Is Ellen going to be Comedian Funny or Naturally Funny?" Was Ellen going to make funny remarks about the singers or was she gonna help liven-up the chatter among the judges and singers? As the week progressed on Idol, Ellen resorted to one-liner jokes, which were funny, but then did not really give the contestants the needed feed-back to help them improve their performances. Half-way thru the season, you can clearly tell that Ellen was not having fun judging the contestants. The funniest and the most 'real' moments that happened on Idol was when Harry Connick, Jr. guest mentored and performed on the show. Ellen was trading bards with Connick, was making fun of his talents and seemed to be at her most comfortable self. Maybe that's because she has a friendship with Connick.
I also think the idea of Ellen 'judging' people was a bad idea. Ellen is probably one of the most warm hearted and open minded persons on this earth. There's no way that Ellen would be able to pull off that part of being an Idol judge. Did I expect her to be mean and truthful like Simon Cowell? No. Did I expect her to share tips about performing on stage, relating to audiences and how to become a better performer? Maybe. In the end, what we got was Ellen not being truthful, to herself and the contestants. Hopefully Degeneres' exit, as well as DioGuardi's firing, will be signs that improvements are being made to the Idol show, because boy do they need it! I'm not happy with any of the names being thrown around for possible re-placements as judges, even for Harry Connick, Jr. Hopefully when all the dust settles, we'll have the Idol show we all once loved (Hint, Hint: BRING BACK PAULA ABDUL!!!).
As for Ellen, I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a funny lady, has a great talk-show and is a Covergirl. What more does she need? Oh yea, World Domination. Now that I can support. Go Ellen Go!!!
John
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