Ellen DeGeneres knows where her services aren't appreciated.
And that's why, early Thursday evening, she tweeted: "Dim the lights"ĻI've voted myself off American Idol."
Yes, the hilariously talented daytime talk-show host whom Idol devotees didn't feel had the musical expertise to sit next to Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on the Fox reality TV sing-off's judging panel last season has been eliminated. And unlike most reality stars, she was wise enough to do the eliminating herself.
"A couple months ago, I let Fox and the American Idol producers know that this didn't feel like the right fit for me," DeGeneres said in an official statement released by the network. "I told them I wouldn't leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next."
And where, pray tell, might that be? DeGeneres' departure -- and the fact Cowell left another seat on the panel empty when he quit the show earlier this year -- has ignited an Internet rumour blaze large enough to shut down Twitter (no joke; the site froze shortly after DeGeneres' post on Thursday).
The most shocking report? That judge DioGuardi has been fired. Website TMZ says Fox plans to take Idol back to a three-judge format consisting of ol'-faithful Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.
Say what? I don't think I'm the only one struggling to envision prim J.Lo seated next to a guy who previously ate narcotics for breakfast. (Although, Lopez does know how to take care of twins -- and it just so happens that Tyler used to be one.)
Whether or not DioGuardi -- who joined Idol two seasons ago and just looooves the sound of her own voice -- has actually been canned, and who's replacing who could very likely be revealed on Monday, when Fox will (conveniently) give its presentation at the Television Critics Association conference in Los Angeles.
Meantime, let's not let this buzz take away from the woman who set started it all: DeGeneres.
Let's face it: Idol didn't need Ellen, and Ellen didn't need Idol. While DeGeneres claims "it was a difficult decision to make," I'm thinking it was more likely a no-brainer. She herself admitted in her statement: "It was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings." No doubt, for a woman who devotes her entire daytime show, NBC's The Ellen DeGeneres Show, to uplifting strangers and tossing fluffy questions at her celebrity guests.
And Idol fans were right: DeGeneres wasn't able to provide the most constructive criticism on Idol's ninth (and Ellen's only) season. Instead of telling seventh-place contestant Tim Urban how tone-deaf he was, for example, she was more likely to compliment his coif.
To know where you're not wanted is a gift DeGeneres clearly has, and for her to decide not to force what felt like such an unnatural career move is admirable (call me naīve, but I refuse to believe Fox pushed, or even nudged her out of the job).
Plus, with bitter British judge Cowell gone, DioGuardi possibly on her way out, and the slowly dying Idol franchise's future flung so far up in the air, why would she want to stick around for when it all comes crumbling down?
lindsey.ward@sunmedia.ca
