Ellen DeGeneres’ American Idol Debut

Pamela Sitt February 9, 2010

Ellen Degeneres for the 9th season of "American Idol"

Ellen DeGeneres, welcome to Hollywood!

After weeks of auditions with rotating guest judges (good riddance, Katy Perry — love, Kara), Paula Abdul’s replacement will finally take her seat at the judges table tonight on American Idol.

Of course, Ellen’s debut has been a bit overshadowed by all the talk about who might replace Simon Cowell when he retires from Idol at the end of this season.

Rumor has it Ellen and Simon have been clashing at the judges table, which Ellen downplayed to Idol host Ryan Seacrest Tuesday.

“I like Simon. He’s going to be a challenge. He’s Simon, and I’m me. We are completely different people. We’ll see how it goes.”