I think I’m gonna like her.
Ellen DeGeneres debuted Tuesday as the fourth “American Idol” judge, and already I’m seeing that the power struggle for relevance might be not between her and Simon Cowell, who has one foot out the door, but Kara DioGuardi, who I’m not sure why is still there. Kara tries to be the voice of reason, and in the early audition tried to bond with the female guest judges in some faux-Girl Power situation, which seemed to work as long as the other woman deferred to Kara’s expertise.
I don’t see Ellen going for that – while her daytime talk show persona is cuddly and dance fevery, her “Idol” stance seems to be benevolent but unmistakable honesty. If Kara tries to pull rank on her, I can’t see Ellen putting up with it, and depending on who they get to replace Simon next year (My money’s on Guy Oseary, not Howard Stern), Ellen could become the judge of record. Randy, meanwhile, will be the judge of tired takes on the word “hot.”
She was clear about her qualifications in the beginning of the show – while she’s not a musician, “I do know what it’s like to stand on a stage and try to please a room full of people,” she says. And so do a few of the contestants in this awesome sudden death Hollywood round. Only one of them so-called shocking eliminations really was – I think they made a mistake getting rid of Justin, the keyboard player – but here’s who stood out:
— Little Katie, the girl with the sick grandma, who continues to be adorable; Andrew and his acoustic Mraz-y “Straight Up,” although Kara said “You switched it up, just like Adam did last year,” and you’re like, “Umm, that was Kris Allen with the acoustic switcheroo, Girlie. Stop giving Adam credit for that. Y’all tried to give him enough.”
— I also loved the rocker mom, Janell, who did “American Boys” on her guitar; small Haeley, Lilly the sandwich maker, and Michael, the new dad whose old dad apparently gabbed to the press that his kid was on the show, and has now been booted. Oh, Old Dad. That’s a good way to get yourself disowned.
— Bye, Skiboski! Bye, little bridge-jumping country Vanessa! Buh-bye, Barney Kid Star With A Whip (thank you, thank you, thank you).
— And welcome back Casey, the blues guitar player that had to unbutton his shirt in the auditions, but turns out to be sort of awesome. He was one of my favorites, along with Crystal, whose acoustic “Natural Woman” was brilliant.
I’m feeling good about this. What say you?
