There’s all kinds of opinions about Ellen as Paula’s replacement. “What does she know about music?” “How is she qualified to judge a signing competition?” “OMG, I LOVE ELLEN!” Me…I take the latter opinion.

Seriously though. There’s 4 judges. A couple producers and a “singer”/songwriter. Do we really need to have a (real) singer too? I mean, how many people complained about Paula? She was a singer. I believe it’s actually harder for the singer to critique because they know how difficult it is to sing live (we’ve seen how poorly some of the icons have done as guests on the Idol stage…ahem, Diana Ross). Think about it. As you sit on the couch watching Idol every Tuesday, do you just sit idley (hehe) by and listen with no opinions? NO! I would bet that you get totally into it. You’re bashing people, praising people, commenting on attire and hair. You are being a judge. What do you know about music? I’ll tell you what you know. You know whether or not you like it. THAT’S ALL THAT’S IMPORTANT. Why shouldn’t there be a fan on that panel? And not just any fan…a SUPER fan. I think Ellen is going to be fantastic. Besides, wouldn’t you like to hear a judge say something that you as a fan might be thinking instead of having to sit through another season asking yourself, “What does artistry mean? Who was pitchy, dawg? What does that analogy even mean?” I thought so. Bring it on, Ellen.

Until then…