From a business point of view, I don’t get it other than the fact that Ellen is a great supporter of the singers. The contestants have a tough enough gig to do and I tend to agree with other pundits that:
1. Fox and Idol want to try new stuff to keep the show on the air and interest.
2. Ellen can promote the show on her own show.
3. She may provide a gentler approach to supporting the contestants but she is a comic.
That leads to my reasons why she might not be a good choice:
1. She is too nice.
2. The show is about the singers and all the drama with the judges is boring.
3. If you want me to get interested in the judges, have some real nasty judges who have very bad habits, abuse themselves or barnyard animals on the show when they should be rating the singers. Problem is, that would be too over the top.
Ellen Degeneres, I wish you the best of luck on the show and I hope you have fun with it. I just question what the step after that would be. If the ratings aren’t great will they replace you with a serial killer? I suppose if it gets people to watch sponsors and get them to drink the soft drinks and buy the detergent, they will go for it.
What do you guys think?
My parting shot is that I watch the show when I can for the singing and honestly for brief, snappy one liners from the judges – not huge debates.
Kim Isaac Greenblatt