American Idol has Ellen DeGeneres debut

American Idol has Ellen DeGeneres tonight and from the looks of things, she's just what the doctor ordered to replace Former Judge Paula Abdul. 66 percent of those surveyed at the blog Idol Chatter said they are excited to see Ellen DeGeneres.

How did she do?

The Chicago Tribune describes Ellen's debut as "low key":

DeGeneres did provide a little humor when she was informing one group of nervous contestants whether they had made it through to the next round. She had been telling hopefuls to "step forward" or "step back," and those who were either in the front or the back of the stage were told they'd made the cut. DeGeneres told one group to move from side to side and back and forth -- then told the entire group that they'd made it through.

Ellen's debut was not without notice on Twitter, and with Ellen herself getting the Twitterverse going with a new hashtag #EllenOnIdol and this tweet:

Tonight I start my job on Idol. Please watch! (On Fox!) #EllenOnIdol
about 6 hours ago from web

Here's a video clip of American Idol with Ellen DeGeneres:



With her eyeglasses and long-sleave blouses, Ellen will be more of a clinical judge than an emotional one because she's learning. What's changing about American Idol is looking at judges who don't sing or aren't in the music business. I don't think that's a good idea because it ruins the quality of the evaluation.

Stay tuned.