9-9-09 Ellen Degeneres Named as Fourth Idol Judge

[Moonshot]

September 9, 2009, 8:34 pm
Ellen DeGeneres to Become Fourth ‘American Idol’ Judge
By Brian Stelter

Ellen DeGeneres will join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on “American Idol” next winter, Fox announced on Wednesday evening.

The announcement comes after Paula Abdul said last month that she would leave the program ahead of its ninth season, which is scheduled to start in January 2010.

Ms. DeGeneres, the popular daytime talk show host, will join the famous judges’ panel after the auditions, which are currently taking place in cities around the country.

“I’m thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol,” Ms. DeGeneres said in a statement. “I’ve watched since the beginning, and I’ve always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I’ll save from not having to text in my vote.”

Update: 10:01 p.m.: The Associated Press reports:

    DeGeneres told her talk show audience in an episode scheduled to air Thursday that she would not abandon her Emmy-winning chatfest, but would have “a day job and a night job.”

    “The times we’re living in,” she quipped, “we’re all doing that.”

    “Hopefully, I’m the people’s point of view because I’m just like you,” DeGeneres said on her show. “I sit at home and I watch it, and I don’t have that technical … 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.”

nytimes mediadecoder blog

[Moonshot]

Sep 09, 2009
It's official: Ellen DeGeneres is the new Paula
08:52 PM

Here are the details from Fox's press release:

Emmy Award-winning talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has joined AMERICAN IDOL as a fourth judge. DeGeneres will sit alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi and offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition.

 The ninth season of AMERICAN IDOL premieres January 2010 on FOX. DeGeneres will join the judges' panel after the auditions, which will feature appearances by guest judges Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Shania Twain.

 "I'm thrilled to be the new judge on AMERICAN IDOL," said DeGeneres. "I've watched since the beginning, and I've always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I'll save from not having to text in my vote."

 "I could not be more excited to have Ellen join the AMERICAN IDOL family," said creator and executive producer Simon Fuller. "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. I can't wait for this next season to begin."

 "We're all delighted to have Ellen join our ninth season of AMERICAN IDOL," said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. "Beyond her incredible sense of humor and love of music, she brings with her an immense warmth and compassion that is almost palpable. She is one of America's foremost entertainers, and we cannot wait to have her join our team."

 Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment for FOX added, "We are thrilled to have Ellen DeGeneres join the AMERICAN IDOL judges' table this season. She is truly one of America's funniest people and a fantastic performer who understands what it's like to stand up in front of audiences and entertain them every day. We feel that her vast entertainment experience – combined with her quick wit and passion for music – will add a fresh new energy to the show."

usatoday.com

[Moonshot]

Ellen DeGeneres takes Paula Abdul's 'American Idol' seat
She signs a five-year deal to be a judge.
By Joe Flint, Denise Martin and Maria Elena Fernandez
September 10, 2009


The fourth seat has been filled.

A little more than a month after Paula Abdul tendered her high-profile Twitter resignation as a judge on "American Idol," Fox announced Wednesday that she was being replaced by one of the show's biggest fans, comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres.

The network's five-year deal with DeGeneres puts to rest a major challenge facing Fox as the aging singing competition enters its ninth season in January: filling the shoes of the judge considered by many to be the heart of the show.

DeGeneres, who has hosted the Oscars and the Emmys and was recently a guest judge on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," broke the news to her audience during a taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Wednesday.

"I don't know how it happened myself, but I have not missed one episode of that show," DeGeneres said in the episode of the talk show that airs today. "I love everything about it and I love music, as you know. Hopefully I'm the people's point of view because I'm just like you. I sit at home and I watch it and I don't have that technical . . . 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 move to sign DeGeneres came after a series of guest judges filled in for Abdul during the "Idol" audition rounds, including Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, singers Mary J. Blige, Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne, and actors Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth.

DeGeneres will join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on the panel when the show returns to the air in January. It hasn't been decided whether DeGeneres will join the other judges for pretaped semifinal rounds in November.

The mating dance between Fox and DeGeneres began in earnest after she was a guest judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" in July. Although Abdul had not resigned at that point, DeGeneres' appearance stuck with Fox executives, who were well aware that Abdul was not a lock to return.

DeGeneres has long ties with Fox and landed one of her big breaks on the network 20 years ago in the short-lived comedy, "Open House."

Talks heated up late last week among Fox and DeGeneres and Warner Bros., which needed to give its blessing since it has an exclusive TV contract with DeGeneres.

Leading negotiations for DeGeneres were ICM agent Eddy Yablans and manager Caryn Weingarten, who found a receptive audience at Fox, where Tony Vinciquerra, chief executive of the Fox Network Group, gave the green light to new entertainment chairman Peter Rice to get a deal done.

Rice, working closely with reality programming chief Mike Darnell and business affairs head Ira Kurgan, quickly put together a multiyear contract that would bring stability to TV's No. 1 show, both in front of and behind the camera.

Though Warner Bros., which produces and distributes DeGeneres' talk show, did not stand in the way, the studio did extend its own deal with her for three more years -- until 2014 -- before agreeing to let her take on "American Idol."

"I'm going to have a day job and a night job," DeGeneres said during her show. "The times we're living in . . . we're all doing that. This is so exciting for me. We've been dealing with this for the last couple of weeks and I've been dying to tell everyone. It's just been so hard to keep it a secret and we just finally got the OK and I'm so excited."

Signing DeGeneres will likely make it easier for Fox to make a deal with Cowell, whose contract expires next May.

Though rumors have persisted that Abdul and Fox might come to terms in time for her to be back by "Idol's" January return, her manager, David Sonenberg, told The Times) last month that chances of such a scenario playing out were slim. Abdul has since made deals to host the "VH1 Divas" ceremony. Her guest spot on the Lifetime comedy "Drop Dead Diva" has turned into a recurring role. She also told "Access Hollywood" that she is working on a deal to develop and star in her own Las Vegas revue.

After failing to clinch a more lucrative deal with “Idol,”)%2C Abdul tweeted her resignation Aug. 4. "With sadness in my heart, I've decided not to return," she wrote. "I'll miss nurturing all the new talent."

During the Television Critics Press Assn. tour last month, Fox executives said they were set on maintaining the four-judge arrangement even with Abdul's departure. "I think that the four judges were getting in a rhythm last year, and we will probably have four judges back," Rice said.

"We have from now until January to introduce a different energy into the panel. . . . There is going to be a search, and we have to cast that in a way that is fun and energizing and creates some real chemistry between the people on the panel."

During an interview with Cowell on her talk show before the "Idol" season ended, DeGeneres told Cowell she wasn't thrilled about the addition of a fourth judge: "I think everybody liked it the way it was with you and Randy and Paula. And all of a sudden there's a fourth judge. It gives you less time to talk. It kind of splits it up."

Looks like someone has changed her mind.

latimes.com

joe.flint@latimes.com

denise.martin@latimes.com

maria.elena.fernandez@latimes.com

[Moonshot]

Fans divided about Ellen DeGeneres as 'Idol' judge

By DERRIK J. LANG (AP) – 4 hours ago

LOS ANGELES — Ellen DeGeneres wants to represent the people on "American Idol," but the people are split about the talk show host's role as the Fox singing competition's fourth judge.

Fans took to the Internet after Wednesday's announcement to express either pleasant surprise or total shock that DeGeneres was picked to replace Paula Abdul.

"I mean, really? Ellen DeGeneres?" wrote popular "Idol" blogger MJ Santilli at mjsbigblog.com. "She guest judged 'So You Think You Can Dance' last season, and her critiques were comic relief. So is she going to be a real judge or some kind of joke? She's a comedian, not a singer or a musician. I'm kinda flummoxed here."

Others on the Internet, including posters on the AmericanIdol.com forums, said they were pleased that DeGeneres, who admittedly has no formal music experience, just a passion for tunes, would join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on "Idol."

Andy Dehnart, a reality television blogger at realityblurred.com, praised the "somewhat random" decision. He called it a 90-degree turn that would give the aging singing contest new life and may prompt more viewers to tune in when DeGeneres first appears during the semifinal rounds, which tend to be the snooziest part of the season.

"Hopefully, I'm the people's point of view because I'm just like you," DeGeneres said on her syndicated talk show Thursday. "I sit at home and I watch it, and I don't have that technical ... 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."

DeGeneres' hiring as the show's fourth judge all but seals the departure of Abdul, the original third judge who announced she was quitting amid a contract dispute in July.

Abdul had served as judge alongside Cowell and Jackson since the show's debut in 2002. Producers shook up the franchise last season by adding songwriter DioGuardi as a fourth judge.

Since departing "Idol," Abdul has gone diva, filming a cameo for Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva" as a gavel-banging, glammed-up version of herself and signing on to host the live "VH1 Divas" concert on Sept. 17.

Abdul has yet to announce a steady job to replace her role on the Fox singing contest, but she told TV Guide last week she'd like to host a talk show.

Abdul had been replaced by a succession of guest judges across the country as "Idol" started next season's auditions, which will air in January. Among them: former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Katy Perry and Shania Twain — but not the 51-year-old DeGeneres, who will join the ninth season following the show's tryout rounds.

It won't be DeGeneres' first time in a reality TV judge's seat — or on "Idol." She served as a guest judge earlier this summer on "So You Think You Can Dance," critiquing the dancing competition's top eight finalists. In 2007, she was the co-host of "Idol Gives Back," the singing contest's charity event. She returned the next year in a pre-taped segment.

DeGeneres has enjoyed a successful reign as the host of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" for the past six years, although her four-year streak as the Daytime Emmy winner for talk show host ended this year when Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters from ABC's "The View" were awarded the prize for the first time.

Idol producers backed their pick of DeGeneres.

"Beyond her incredible sense of humor and love of music, she brings with her an immense warmth and compassion that is almost palpable," said "Idol" executive producer and FremantleMedia North America CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz in a statement. "She is one of America's foremost entertainers, and we cannot wait to have her join our team."

___

AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.

AP news article

[mimi]

WHAT, Ellen!!!  WHY?  Only time will tell how thats going to work out.

I would have prefered AI to have only kept 3 judges, they need to spend more time on the singers and less time on the banter...Now we will have to listen to Ryan & Ellen, BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

[tamaraluvs]

I would think they would have a judge with more musical knowledge. Honestly how are the contestants going to take a comic seriously. Can she really be critical without laying down a joke?? There is enough sarcasm on the show as is, do we really need to have more "comic relief?? JMHO

[Moonshot]

Record companies sue 'Ellen' show over copyrights
Sep 10, 6:39 PM (ET)

By TRAVIS LOLLER

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Some of the world's largest recording companies are suing "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," claiming producers violated their copyrights by playing more than 1,000 songs without permission.

Many of the songs were played during the "dance over" segment of the show, when DeGeneres dances from the stage to the interview area, often through the audience.

According to the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, when representatives of the recording companies asked defendants why they hadn't obtained licenses to use the songs, defendants said they didn't "roll that way."

"As sophisticated consumers of music, Defendants knew full well that, regardless of the way they rolled, under the Copyright Act, and under state law for the pre-1972 recordings, they needed a license to use the sound recordings lawfully," the suit states.

Scott Rowe, spokesman for the show's Telepictures Productions, wrote in an e-mailed statement that the company has been working with the record labels for months to resolve the issue and remains willing to resolve it on "amicable and reasonable terms."

Rowe said the issue does not involve DeGeneres, who on Wednesday was named as the fourth judge on TV's "American Idol," and whom Rowe calls "a tremendous music enthusiast and advocate."

The suit claims the daytime talk show has used copyrighted music without permission since its inception, including "recordings by virtually every major current artist of popular music." It claims the show routinely used some of the most popular songs of the day, which the record labels don't license for daytime television at any price.

Other songs cited in the lawsuit include Michael Jackson's "Thriller"; The Beach Boys'"Good Vibrations" and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It."

The suit calls the segment and the music played by the show's own disc jockey "signature elements of the show."

Plaintiffs include Arista Music, Atlantic Recording Corp., Capitol Records, Motown Record Company, Sony Music Entertainment, Virgin Records America and Warner Bros. Records.

The suit does not specify the dollar amount it seeks in damages.

apnews.myway.com