American Idol

If there’s one thing we can’t help loving, it’s celebrities’ veneer of super-cool sophistication falling by the wayside when their family start embarrassing them by speaking to the press. Forget Michael Lohan-style dysfunction, we’re more thinking Justin Timberlake‘s grandma Sadie Bomar ‘fessing up that he’s not ready to marry that Jessica Biel girl. And now Simon Cowell‘s glamorous mom Julie has got in on the act, giving an interview to UK showbiz mag New!, which is the equivalence of opening up those baby photos of him on the potty to the whole world.

• On Simon’s early musical prowess: “He formed a band with his brother and two friends. We were on holiday in the Caribbean once and he convinced the hotel to let them play. They were awful!”
• On Simon’s tragic first loss: “When Hammy the Hamster died, Simon was upset for a very long time.”
• On Simon’s ex-girlfriends: “Top of the class was Terri Seymour...she was my favourite but sadly Simon is married to his work.”
• On Simon’s bad habits: “His smoking – I hate it.”

Ahhh, parents. Don’t you just love them?

Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul have all offered up their opinions now that it’s confirmed that Ellen Degeneres is the new “American Idol” judge, and their verdict is nothing but love. DioGuardi for one, is excited that she will no longer be the newest member of the team (“I got slagged,” she said of her critical reviews last season), but also had this to say about her new co-worker: “She’s somebody who loves music, she’s positive, she loves kids…She is somebody who has watched the show from the beginning, knows everything there is to know about American Idol and I think ultimately it’s going to be a great new energy.”

Randy also said that Ellen’s point of view will be refreshing for viewers to hear. “There’s so much music industry insider talk with me and Simon and Kara that I didn’t think we needed any more of that. Ellen hit it right on the head—I think she could be the voice of the people,” Jackson told E Online. “It’s like somebody in the home audience watching and going, ‘What would I say?’ Ellen’s going to be saying it.”

Last but not least, Paula Abdul, the one everyone’s been waiting to hear from, also made a statement, in which she called Degeneres, “wildly funny and talented in her own right. I wish her and the show only the best of luck.” Sounds like there’s no hard feelings – what we’d really love though is for Ellen to have Paula on her show to discuss it all – we’d watch! [Photo: GettyImages]

When we woke up today, we greeted the rising sun with a wink and a smile, little birdies dressed us, and tiny mice scampered to tie our shoelaces. The reason for such a fairy tale morning? Why, we heard Ellen Degeneres was going to be the new judge on “American Idol.” Now, obviously Ellen is no Paula Abdul. She doesn’t have the music background that Paula has and she certainly doesn’t have the, er, quirks, that mada Paula so fun to watch, but man, we love us some Ellen.

Degeneres is no stranger to judging shows like this one either – she had a brief stint as a guest judge on “So You Think You Can Dance” earlier this summer (and if there’s on thing Ellen does know, it’s dancing. Well, dancing and sensible blazers.) In a statement about the new job on Idol, Ellen said. “I’ve watched since the beginning, and I’ve always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I’ll save from not having to text in my vote.”

While Ellen is certainly not going to bring a severe point of view such as Simon Cowell‘s to the show, she probably won’t be as condescending and irritating as one Ms. Kara DioGuardi either, and we expect a lot more humor, which we look forward to. Of course this means we’ll have to revamp our Idol drinking game, but we welcome that challenge. And just in case you’re a fan of her talk show, don’t worry – like Kelly Ripa before her, she will be working a day and a night gig and has no plans to leave the talk show. [Photo: GettyImages]

Earlier this summer we discussed the fact that Simon Cowell‘s “American Idol” salary would be reaching $45 million a year starting next season. With that kind of money, he can pretty much afford to do whatever he wants, and we’ve learned that Cowell does indeed plan to go all out when it comes time to celebrate his upcoming 50th birthday.

The big day isn’t until October, but apparently the guest list  (which numbers over 400) and venue (Wrotham Park, an estate outside London) are already set. Attendees include Sir Elton John, Kevin Spacey, Denise Richards, Kate Moss, and Donald Trump and the affair will also feature performances from Il Divo, Westlife and Leona Lewis. So, with so much opulence it’s no surprise that the estimated cost for the party is $400,000. But of course that’s just a drop in Cowell’s diamond-encrusted bucket. More importantly though, we wonder if Paula Abdul‘s invited? [Photo: GettyImages]