Finally, American Idol is playing it smart. After Simon stated he was going to leave, we just found out that Ellen slid out now too. Ellen stated that she could no longer do the show because of scheduling conflicts and that she could not be mean to contestants. In all reality it was probably her scheduling, I mean she is the most famous person on that panel. She was hilarious and kept the show alive too.

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who became a full-time judge on the show during its ninth season, is bowing out of the series, PEOPLE has learned.

“A couple months ago, I let FOX and the American Idol producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” she says in a statement. “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. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for.”

DeGeneres adds, “I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on Idol and I am very grateful for the year I had, I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”
In the same statement, Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller says, “I loved Ellen’s passion for the artists and her nurturing skills. She brought honesty and optimism to our judging panel and I will miss her greatly.”

Peter Rice, the FOX entertainment chairman, says, “We love Ellen and understand and support her decision to bow out of Idol. We were fortunate to receive the humor, energy and love for talent that she brought to the show.”

A longtime fan of Idol, DeGeneres signed on to replace Paula Abdul after Abdul Tweeted about her departure in August 2009. “I’m going to have a day job and a night job,” DeGeneres said at the time. “This is exciting for me.”

In January, Cowell announced he was leaving to concentrate on bringing his U.K. hit The X Factor to the U.S

Now here is the great part. American Idol has decided since Simon and Ellen are gone, maybe we should just start all over. So, they kick Kara DioGuardi’s ass out of there. Kara did not volunteer to leave like Ellen, her ass was fired. Kara was by far the worse and annoying judge on the show. The show is now returning with just three judges.

So who is going to judge? Well American Idol finally realized that maybe, just maybe we should put some people who have singing talent and know what they are doing in the judges panel. So who do they get. Jennifer Lopez and the one and only Steven Tyler. Yes, Aerosmith front man himself.

Deadline Hollywood reported:

We’ve just learned the backstory of how Ellen DeGeneres bowed out of American Idol and who will be the new judge taking her place. It’s Jennifer Lopez, whose singing and acting career has been on the skids after her recent movie failed at the box office in the spring and she was dropped by her record company Sony Music Epic Records this past winter. We hear her manager Benny Medina (whom she once fired) orchestrated the meeting with the American Idol producers a month ago, and negotiations have been ongoing ever since. We’ve learned a deal was closed earlier this week under the utmost secrecy. Today’s news came shortly after Nigel Lythgoe returned to Idol as an executive producer. He has vowed to shake up the show’s team of judges in the wake of the departure of Simon Cowell, publicly stating that he always thought a panel of three and not 4 made the most sense.

Still to be decided is who will replace Simon Cowell. Everyone associated with the show wants Elton John, but we hear he’s asking for too much money and has too many touring commitments he can’t get out of.

2ND UPDATE: Tonight, unconfirmed reports say Idol has offered Cowell’s judge seat to Steven Tyler. 3RD UPDATE: And another unconfirmed report claimed judge Kara DioGuardi has been fired to bring the panel count down to just 3, not 4.

As for Ellen Degeneres, we’re told she wanted off the show two months ago and complained that Idol producers “couldn’t control Cowell”, one insider tells us. Least of all Cecile Frot-Coutaz, the CEO of FremantleMedia North America. “Cecile is doing X Factor with Simon, so she’s in his back pocket.” DeGeneres and her reps went in to to see Fox Broadcasting’s Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice and Alternative TV President Mike Darnell and asked to be let out of the year left on her contract. “She’s not comfortable. She’s not happy. It’s not been fun,” Fox was told. But Rice and Darnell responded that, with Cowell leaving, “We can’t let you out now because it would be bad for our franchise. Give us a chance to figure out who we could get.” In the end, all the show’s producers — Fox, Fremantle, and 19 Entertainment — worked it out. “Peter Rice was awesome,” an insider tells us. “Ellen is thrilled and relieved.” We’ve learned that serious conversations took place between Idol and Jessica Simpson to replace Ellen. But once Jennifer Lopez was locked in this week, the DeGeneres announcement went out.

…Her replacement JLo badly needs this high-profile boost to her flagging career. The actress had many hits with Sony Music Epic Records, so it was a shock within the recording industry when her longtime label dumped her.

So which one of these three judges are going to be the mean one? You know it won’t be Randy. Hell, maybe American Idol might kick his ass out too. I mean all he has ever done is play keyboard and a few things with Mariah Carey and other singers. I can see JLO being a bitch, and Steven Tyler doesn’t seem like he talks to much.

Afternoon Delight

• Levi Johnston is now only one of three possible daddies of some slut–celebitchy
• Lady Gaga in Vanity Fair, looks terrible–dlisted
• Sandra Bullock wants removed from her Gulf PSA–Eonline
• Tom Welling sure knows what he is doing when producing the Hellcats, look at those butts–Egotastic
• Daniel Radlciffe gets stoned and drunk for birthday–JustJared

This is how bad American Idol has now gotten. So far this is the worse season I have ever seen with very little talent in it. There are a few stand out performers, but they stand out because they are better than just this season’s contenders. The group performances are terrible at the elimination series, where you see all the performers lip syncing because they are so bad.

Now to make it worse they are going to have the Disney bred Miley Cyrus as a mentor. You have to be kidding me? I mean you can tell she lip syncs too and has a lot of audio adjustments on her tracks too. If she did not have all those audio adjustments she would sound like Kenny Rogers singing instead of a woman. Mentors on the show used to be greats and legends, people who actually did sing and write their songs back in the day. Anyone new these days seems to be able to do either because of digital technology and lack of talent. I can understand that she has a new movie out where we will see her terrible acting from the Disney station transfer onto the big screen. There is really no reason to have her as a mentor though, maybe a guest singer if you want.

Morning Ketch-up

• John Malkovich and Frances McDormand in Transformers 3–Celebitchy
• Kristen Stewarts has a poopoo mouth–Limelife
• Britney’s Turkey is done–Superficial

Recently, American Idol decided to strip all the accounts of the contestants from facebook and twitter. This was probably done so they did not influence votes, etc. So if you ever decide to be a contestant be ready to lose your facebook and twitter accounts. American Idol then replaced all the accounts with fake ones, that is not the real people. The same posts are on all the contestants social media sites. If one says “hi” they all say “hi.” So you are talking to a fake, and there is no reason to follow them at all.

Speaking of American Idol their show was absolutely terrible. This by far has to be the worse year yet for American Idol. The producers of American Idol must agree too, because yesterday’s group song was Black Eyed Peas, “I Got a Feeling.” If you notice that song is done in all electronica. I could even sing that song and sound wonderful, and i’m a terrible singer. I am guessing after last weeks train wreck of a group performance the producers wanted to play it safe and leave people little to talk about.

Last night had a little bit of better performances by the guys, but still not great. So why did the guys perform last night instead of the girls? The girls always go first in all the seasons. Well it all had to do with female singer, Crystal Bowersox. Bowersox had to go to the hospital during the day of the performance due to complications with her diabetes, and was told that she could not perform last night. Since Bowersox is one of the only girls that sounds good this season, they decided to switch the men to play last night. They informed the guys at about 10 am they were going to perform. I feel bad for them because it is unfair they lose that time to practice.

It really does not matter, as all the performers this year are complete crap. I do not see any promise in any of them, male and female. Of course I do have my favorites that show a glimmer of hope. Casey James is able to front a guitar really well and has the skills to be a real performer. Last night he brought his electric guitar and showed the crowd how well he could actually play.

The surprising turnarounds of the night were from singers, Alex Lambert and Tim Urban. I was sure those two were the two to be eliminated last weekend and this weekend they sounded great. Tim Urban seemed to own the stage when he performed Matt Nathanson’s “Come on Get Higher.” The judges agreed they were good, but they still need a lot of approvement.

Then there is poor Todrick Hall who keeps getting the run around from the judges. No matter what this boy does he is going to lose. Todrick has been mixing his own versions of songs up, which is what judges have been telling everyone for the past several seasons to do. Now they are telling Todrick to just sing a plain old song how it originally was made, which is what they are telling other contestants not to do. Next week Todrick will play just sing a regular song and i’m sure the judges will tell him that he needs to be more creative with it. It is a bit annoying.

My favorite part of the show is after Aaron Kelly, 16 year old boy, sang. Simon told him that he needs to be more like Justin Bieber and sing songs like that and Kelly just looked at him all weird. Then to top it off Ryan Seacrest asked Kelly if he like Bieber, and Kelly pretty much gave it a stuttered “no.” I do not blame you kid, do not try to be like him, do not listen to Simon and become a Disneybot.

Again, the best performance of the night went to Lee Dewyze who sung “Lips of an Angel.” I am still waiting for him to make a song more like his own, he sounds lot like the people who sing the songs.

The rumor is that American Idol is considering having Howard Stern take over Simon’s place. I really do not see the reasoning in this. I enjoy Howard Stern, but you need some one who is a music expert to take Simon’s place. Simon is a huge music producer, and therefore needs replaced by one. Stern is very knowledgeable about music since he has been a dj for years, but I do not know if he knows possible talent. Fox would have to have a lot of censoring most likely, because you never know what Stern would do. He would be a loaded gun on that show, and yes I would find it very interesting. We already have comedian/tv host Ellen on there, so no need for more comedy.
Stern states that American Idol would have to cough up a lot of dough to have him on there. His $500 million dollar contract with Sirius radio is up at the end of this year. Right now the offer has been up to 100 million a year to judge the show. Stern said he would make it a looking contest too if he was judge. He believes that ugly people would not be as sucessful maybe in a singing career? I know a lot of singers that are able to prove that wrong.

Other News

• Gabourey Sidibe’s mom is getting some recognition for singing in the subways–Celebitchy
• Another Book from Kate Gosselin, titled “I just want you to know..Im a bad parent”–Celebitchy
• Snooki is eating a man’s face–dlisted
• Mike Tyson dances in Italy on their DWTS–Buzzfeed
• More Marissa Miller Butt–TMZ

Wow, I just came through a hell of a rain storm. That is pretty much why there have been no posts today.

• Geri Halliwell see thru shirt–Hollywood Tuna
• Some Skeleton Pancake Tits for ya, Erin Wasson topless for H&M(NSFW)–Egotastic
• Howard Stern to take over Simon’s spot on American Idol?–LifeLine

A little recap of last night’s American Idol. Yesterday, American Idol was in Los Angeles and had guest judge Avril Lavigne. Lavigne showed up in a cheesy hoodie with devil ears. The very first guy in was a sweaty man who I could not decide was a girl or guy. Then Lavigne said “no” to the first good singer they had for the day because he was married with three children. She did not believe that he would be able to handle being away from the family. Who is she to decide that?

Next day, new guest judge, this time Katy Perry. Perry who enjoyed voicing her bitchy opinion, and I believe was trying to get Simon’s position. Either she was trying really hard for Simon’s position or I feel bad for Russel Brand for being that cruel to people. One of the highlights of Perry being on the show was her lowered top though ,and contestant Jason Greene. Greene sung “I Touch Myself” and got done on his knees and said some dirty things to Simon. At this point I though how unfamily this family program is. It just got really raunchy. The video above shows the clip of Greene.

Katy Perry then continued to say “no” to really good singers. It was really annoying, and a lot of them seem to have more talent than her. I wondered if she was saying “no” so much because she did not want more competition in the music business. Perry and Kara DioGuardi kept on arguing throughout the night, and DiGuardi could not figure out Perry’s thinking.

Well, it is beginning. Filming just started this week for Ellen on American Idol. All the judges have seemed to show up on time besides Simon Cowell. Simon recently showed up a hour and half late. Ellen has cleared her schedule and made a lot of room to be on this show, and Simon has seemed to be careless about her efforts. An individual should never show up to a job a hour half late. It is disrespectable of Simon Cowell and Ellen and the other judges should deserve better.

Sources are also saying that co-creator Simon Fuller is looking to have Sony Music CEO, Tommy Mottola, be the new judge in Simon’s place. There is a problem with this though, Simon wants him on X-Factor. So now there is a battle for a judge between the two Simons. Here was the latest article in Deadline Hollywood.

It was American Idol’s newest judge Ellen DeGeneres’ first day of the 9th season’s taping of the Hollywood segment, and she was excited and nervous, sources tell us. But then that turned to anger. Because, our insiders say, Simon Cowell was an hour and a half late for the taping. And Ellen stewed while she waited. She had reason: to accomodate both her talk show hosting duties and her American Idol judging duties, she had moved up her schedule so that now she shot the talk show earlier in the day and then jumped in the car to go to Idol. She was on time, and Cowell was not. “Here it was the first day of taping of the Hollywood shows, and Ellen was there waiting for Simon to show up. Ellen’s new to the gig and she’s very organized and she made a commitment to take this on, and now she’s asking herself, ‘What did I get myself into?’ She called Simon Cowell a prima donna. So right from the start, the chemistry isn’t great,” an insider tells us.

With that, Ellen Degeneres contacted the pal who brought her to the primetime hit show, Fox alternative programming chief Mike Darnell, and made a request: she asked him to “hurry up and pick” Simon’s successor. Cowell has told the world this will be his last season judging Idol to do his own U.S. version of The X Factor. But there’s a problem, a big multi-pronged one, and it involves Ellen vs Simon, and Simon Fuller vs Simon Cowell, and American Idol vs The X Factor as well.

Our sources say that American Idol’s first choice to succeed Cowell is former Sony music chief Tommy Mottola, best known to the public as Mariah Carey’s controlling ex-husband and the controversial boss of Michael Jackson and Michael George who presided not so much over their musical heydays but mostly their scandal-plagued aftermaths. But get this — Cowell has also designated Mottola as first choice to be a judge on Simon’s American X Factor just announced.

Cowell is reportedly being paid nearly $175 million for launching the new talent search show in the Fall of 2011. (Cowell didn’t own American Idol and only gets paid to appear on it, but he does own X Factor and the whole brand. It is currently shown in 17 countries worldwide and is the No. 1 TV entertainment format in Europe. The X Factor format is owned by Syco, a global music, television and film production joint venture between Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment.)

Execs behind American Idol and The X Factor want a high-profile music industry professional to give some gravitas. And our sources say Mottola, who hasn’t made headlines since he left Sony and started a new music label, is loving this situation. He’s in the middle of an American TV tug of war!

According to our insiders, Fox, Darnell, and Fremantle’s American Idol producers have “come up with a list of 25 people” led by the 60-year-old Tommy Mottola, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He’s also been a guest on Idol. Viwers of the show know him as Mariah’s ex but also as the current husband of Mexican singer Thalía. True, he’s a music legend in his own right for heading up Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columbia label, for 15 years. But ever since leaving, he’s been on the downlow. “What’s he doing now? Good question. He’s got some label. But in truth he hasn’t done much,” one of our sources shrugged. Mottola also is known as a mentor and former talent manager. His most famous proteges were Hall & Oates, Carly Simon, John Mellencamp, Diana Ross, and Taylor Dayne as well as Mariah Carey in the 1990s, and Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Lopez in the early 2000s.

Cowell’s music background and blunt assessments anchor American Idol, “but he’s also a music industry insider and Mottola fits that bill. And he certainly knows how to find young talent,” our source explained. “Mottola is frontrunner for Idol, but when Simon became aware of this, he began trying to get Tommy to team with him and Paula Abdul for his new show The X Factor.” Our insider feel there is the very real likelihood that Paula Abdul will sign for big dough to reteam with Cowell.

Let’s not forget also there is real rivalry between The Two Simons: Simon Cowell and American Idol’s Simon Fuller. (See SHOW THEM THE MONEY: Is Simon Fuller’s Sweetened TV Deal Richer Than Cowell’s?) Cowell turned down $100 million to stay on Idol. But if he signs Abdul and starts his X Factor with two of the three original American Idol judges, this poses a real threat to Fuller. Especially since two of the original three Idol judges are gone, leaving only original judge Randy Jackson and last season’s new judge Kara DioGuardi — both well-known musicians and record producers — and this season’s new non-music-biz judge Ellen DeGeneres, who is 51 and receives a reported $5 million-a-year for the gig.

As for Ellen vs Simon, even before cameras rolled DeGeneres was marketing herself counter to Cowell. “I think he’s mean and I think he says things in an insensitive way and I don’t think that’s the way to get a point across,” she told one interviewer. “I’m going to be brutally honest, in a kind way.” But even then, as one newspaper noted, “the chemistry between these two stars will be a key plotline.” Still, Fox and the show’s suits are handling her with kid gloves because of the cross-promotion benefits expected between Idol and her successful talk show. (DeGeneres has said repeatedly that she plans to book Idol contestants the day after they’re booted.) So, like her or not, and a lot of fans have voiced their disapproval, she is the show’s future, and Cowell is its past.

“Mottola is in the middle of all that and beneficiary of it. Mottola has remarkable leverage because of this tug of war and will get a big payday from somebody,” our source predicted.

Other News

• Taylor Lautner is in Celebrity Bowl–Eonline
• Look at all the hot models, nude in this calendar(NSFW)–Egotastic
• Brooke Mueller heading from Hospital to Spa–Eonline
• Look at them bounce, AnnaLynne McCord’s see thru shirt(NSFW)–Egotastic

Angela Martin was recently seen on this season of American Idol. She was the individual who has tried three times to be in American Idol, but had complications each time. She dropped out last year because she had a court hearing for a traffic violation. The year before that she learned her father had been murdered. This time it is her last chance as she is at the cutoff age for American Idol.

Martin is hoping for a chance at the dream life for herself and her 10-year-old daughter who has a developmental disorder. The judges even agreed she was very talented and just needs a break from all the terrible news. Unfortunately, terrible news likes to follow Martin. December 26, Martin’s mother did not show up to her Angela’s sister house as planned. The family later filed a missing person’s report ,and the police found Angela’s mother’s car.

Since then, Angela’s mother is still missing. The car was found in a Chicago suburb, and no where near Angela’s sister’s home. At this moment, the police are still searching for her. Martin has continued her quest though to be the next American Idol, just waiting and hoping to hear some good news about her mother. The other contestants have been holding her family in their prayers and have been very supportive.

I just hope that tragedy like this is real. That it is not a marketing scam. I do not mean to sound harsh, but after balloon-boy and other things people do for publicity. I just hope that Angela’s mother is actually missing, and is returned or found safely. It seems that this is a crazy family and I have never heard anyone having this terrible of luck.