OK, well it’s not a lot, but you at least can get a taste for what it will be like when Ellen DeGeneres takes over for Paula Abdul next Tuesday on American Idol. I only saw the Boston auditions from this new season so far and I really really missed Paula, but Ellen could possibly be a hilarious addition to the judges panel. I don’t think Ellen will ever be Simon levels of mean, but she won’t be Paula’s level of nice either. Are you going to be tuning in on Tuesday and what do you think the addition of Ellen will mean for the show?

I haven’t been too diligent about watching Idol this season, so I’m not sure how obvious it is to the viewers at home, but apparently Simon is no longer speaking to guest judge Ellen DeGeneres. The spat started when Ellen got fed up waiting for Simon on set and escalated from there. Last week, the two agreed that they no longer need to talk, just get the work done and move on. From Radar:

“There’s two camps on the show this season,” said an Idol insider. “It’s a lot more tense than previous seasons. It seems as if Ellen has decided to try to take control since Simon is on his way out and that’s created problems.”

Assuming this is all true, it’s pretty whack of Ellen to agree to do a guest spot on a show and act like a diva. I’ve heard from people who have worked on her show, Ellen, that she is a control freak, but rightfully so because it’s her own talk show. Idol. on the other hand, is not her show and if it’s anyone’s, it’s Simon’s. Just because he’s on the way out the door doesn’t mean they’re looking for Ellen to step in to the role of the set jerk.

Adam Lambert went on Ellen today to discuss the now-famous crotch-to-face action in his performance at the American Music Awards and boy did he backpedal.

First, Ellen’s show was probably the best choice for him to go on to publicly discuss his performance because she’s known for being nice to celebrities, is clearly as gay-friendly as it gets, and I think she’d generally support him to stand by his actions so that everyone can stop acting so shocked that two men lamely acted out a blow job on stage.

This is no Janet Jackson boob-flash incident. There was no skin shown. People are just freaking out about the whole thing because Adam Lambert is gay as a rainbow and he was on American Idol. If Miley Cyrus can pole dance without having to explain herself publicly and in such a humbled manner, then why is Adam Lambert sounding so regretful?

Oprah doesn’t like sharing her magazine cover.  It’s not one of her favorite things.  She’s only ever shared with Michelle Obama before this December’s issue.  After Ellen Degeneres’ aggressive campaigning, she appears with Big O on not one, but two covers.

I love Ellen, even if I don’t understand her love of all things O.  You know what else I don’t love?  Oprah’s constant yammering about living her authentic self.  Just how many whacks of Photoshop’s warp brush tool do you think O’s saddlebags were treated to?  Even in discussing the shoot, Oprah said “When Ellen arrived at the photo shoot for our cover, I didn’t have to ask her how she was doing: it showed on her face.  She radiated the kind of peace and satisfaction that comes only when you’re living at your highest potential.”  I wish I could get five minutes with Oprah to ask if she’s living at her highest potential or is she just edited to appear that way.

Taylor Swift got pranked at Ellen the other day and apparently she had the pants scared off her so badly that she wound up on the bathroom floor of her dressing room. Taylor was a really good sport about the prank and laughed until she and Ellen embraced, but her reaction definitely implied that she was freakin’ out there for a moment.

American Idol is very, very careful to get record-label approval for every song they use, and they’re going to have to start explaining that shit to Ellen in the near future. Her talk show’s producers are being sued for the use of music during the TOTALLY AWESOME “dance over” segment, where Ellen dances through the audience to some super-fun tune and it’s hilarious and even I laugh. But apparently it’s not funny to the record labels, who weren’t paid for license fees.

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. …

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.

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.

My Lord, whomever told these record companies that licensing wasn’t the way they rolled ought to be fired, and quick. Why on earth would they think they didn’t have to obtain licensing? Who do they think they are — bloggers?

I’ll tell you what’s funny, though — no one would have reported on this story if Ellen hadn’t been named the fourth Idol judge this week. Success is a bitch.

This comes so far out of left field, it’s guaranteed to be a home run. As we were all sitting around, shaking our heads and wondering how on earth American Idol could continue to be interesting during its post-Paulum depression, the FOX executives were doing something absolutely genius: They were hiring Ellen Degeneres.

Ellen will take the fourth judge’s seat after its preliminary auditions phase (so basically she gets to miss out on the worst part.) “I’ve watched since the beginning and I’ve always been a huge fan, so getting this job is a dream come true,” said Ellen.

It’s funny this should happen today. I’ve been absent from around here for awhile — I was at a cabin in the middle of Idaho, for anyone who’s interested — and this morning I found myself sitting in front of the TV as it happened to be tuned to Ellen. It’s been years since I’ve watched her show, and I was just struck with how creative and entertaining and all-around brilliant her show is. I was like “I wish I had the opportunity to see more of her.” AND NOW I WILL!

Ya know, I really thought Paula was irreplaceable on that show. I bet she thought that, too. But they didn’t try to find another Paula — they found her polar opposite. I think Ellen will continue Paula’s tradition of treating the contestants with kindness, but she’ll be perceptive and (intentionally) funny and sober in the process, and I think it’ll be fantastic for the show. Ellen seems to have lately really embraced her inner butch lesbian — and I’m loving the look on her — and I think it’ll be fantastic to have an openly gay presence on the show. I’m certain it’ll prevent Ryan and Simon from hinting at one another’s homosexuality as an insult, which was getting really really old.

Well-played, my friends at FOX.