It’s the Thursday night American Idol roundup, where we hear about why Ellen DeGeneres hasn’t quite settled into the show, and Ryan Seacrest‘s possible post-Idol future.

But first, we loved Harry Connick, Jr. as a mentor on American Idol — so maybe we should follow his advice this time? He thinks Simon Cowell’s replacement should have a musical background, according to Contact Music. “He was amazing on that show but I also think he’s not a musician, and when you don’t have a musical background, you have to resort to different ways to get your point across,” he said. “He can’t say, ‘You’re singing out of tune’, when he may not know if you’re singing out of tune.”

The website also reports that Connick, who mentored during Sinatra week, is also in the running to replace Simon. Snap debate: is he angling for the position or just speaking his mind?

If that doesn’t happen, the next best thing would be tougher, more relevant judges — and we did see that in Kara DioGuardi last season, after all. Ellen DeGeneres also promised to do the same in an interview with USA Today early this week and, judging by what insiders told MSNBC, it might just work. “Ellen thought she was signing on to a show that would be helmed by Simon for the foreseeable future,” the source said. “His announcement [of his departure] came as a total surprise.”

“The egos here are all too big to admit that she didn’t work well within the show and didn’t get along with a lot of the people within the production,” another source said. “Ellen wasn’t fitting in at the beginning of the season, and the situation never improved by the end.” Maybe now she’s settled in, things will work a bit better?

LARadio.com speculates that Idol host Ryan Seacrest could return to television talk shows, much like he did a few years back. With his contract with Clear Channel — who owns KIIS-FM Los Angeles, where his On Air radio show is based — due to wind down later this year, there is speculation that Ryan might want to do an afternoon talk show like Oprah or Ellen. Their connection: he’s been spotted talking with CBS head Leslie Moonves. With talk that Idol will receive quite an overhaul next season, this could be possible.

Oh, and Ryan tweeted about having Oprah as a next-door neighbor. Connect the dots… just for fun!

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Finally, Lee Dewyze has kicked off recording! He tweeted that he’s gone to the studio to work on his debut album, which is expected to be out in the fall.

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Giddy, kids? Or at least the Lee fans out there?

(Image courtesy of FOX)

Henrik Batallones

Staff Writer, BuddyTV