Ellen Degeneres named fourth judge on American Idol

American Idol has an official full time replacement for recently departed judge Paula Abdul and it's none other than talk show hostess Ellen Degeneres. For a while there it looked like Paula might be back on Idol if she was able to reach a contract agreement with producers, but it looks like that door has now closed. Ellen made the announcement on her show yesterday to thunderous applause and screams from the studio audience. In terms of how she'll cope with running a successful talkshow and working on a wildly popular talent show, Ellen explained 'I'm going to have a day job and a night job. The times we're livin' in, we're all doing that.' Fox has confirmed that Ellen will be a permanent member of the judge's panel. I guess Kirstie Alley won't be replacing Paula after all:

Ellen DeGeneres is taking Paula Abdul's place as the fourth judge on American Idol.

'DeGeneres will sit alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi and offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition,' Fox television says in a statement.

DeGeneres, 51, begins her stint after the audition rounds, which have featured a rotating group of celebrity guest judges including Shania Twain, Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas and Kristin Chenoweth.

Two Jobs
'I'm going to have a day job and a night job,' DeGeneres said at her talk show taping Wednesday, assuring her audience that The Ellen DeGeneres Show will continue. 'This is so exciting for me.'

Abdul abruptly announced in August, just before the start of American Idol's ninth season, that with 'sadness in my heart' she was leaving the highly rated show hosted by Ryan Seacrest.

In the taping for Thursday's Ellen DeGeneres Show, DeGeneres said the deal had been in the works for the last couple of weeks. 'I've been dying to tell everyone,' she says. 'It's just been so hard to keep it a secret and we just finally got the OK and I'm so excited. It is going to be so much fun.'

The People's Voice
She said she's been a longtime fan of the show - 'I have not missed one episode' - and she plans to serve as the voice of the regular audience member.

'Hopefully I'm the people's point of view because I'm just like you,' DeGeneres says. 'I sit at home and I watch it. ... I'm not looking at it in a critical way from the producer's mind. I'm looking at it as a person who is going to buy the music and is going to relate to that person.

The next season of American Idol begins in January. In the statement released by Fox, Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller says, 'Ellen has been a fan of the show for many years, and her love of music and understanding of the American public will bring a unique human touch to our judging panel.'

[From People]

People love Ellen Degeneres and it was a smart move to pick such a likable public figure to replace Paula. The sad thing is, Idol probably had to offer Ellen a contract worth way more than they were willing to give Paula. Is that fair or did Paula kind of run her course on the show? She has a lot of fans, but she did make some negative public statements about Idol management and she wasn't always sober on the job. I used to be team Paula, but now that Ellen is in the mix I kind of see the wisdom of choosing someone new.

Ellen seems to have a good rapport with alpha judge Simon Cowell. TMZ points us to Cowell's appearance on Ellen's show last May. In an exchange about his dating life, Cowell said he wasn't dating anyone in particular, but explained 'I like girls.'

'Me too!' Ellen chimed in.

'That's why we get on well. That's why we like each other.' Simon quipped.

Ellen and Portia are shown at the Daytime Emmy Awards on 8/30/09. Credit: WENN.com