We've seen Ellen DeGeneres swim the waters that is the first live week of American Idol. Abbey graded her a C, and I'm thinking along the same way. But what did you think?

After less than 24 hours of qualitative and quantitative research--really, just your comments and the poll over on Abbey's article last night--we have determined that you, the American Idol fan and BuddyTV user, have given Ellen's first week on the show a grade of:


(Imagine me going "ta-dah!" when I unveil that grade.)

50% of you gave her a B, saying she exceeded your expectations. 33% of you gave her a C, which is pretty average. Not bad for someone's first week.

And here are the results of our consultations with fans--err, your comments:

RockMusicChick: "I think Ellen is doing pretty good so far but there is room for improvement."

susan54: "Ellen just needs a little time to find her groove. I think she is sincere, loves the show and is commenting like any of us would. Even Kara said last year she was uncomfortable at first when it came her time to comment. I say give her a chance... passion for the show is a plus and she will settle in nicely, I think."

tommy216: "Ellen is very average at best. Needs to stop being so nice and tell it like it is. If they stink, say so. If average, say so. Stop with all the cute and 'you will be okay' and 'I love what you do and who you are'. Tell it like it is. Some really do stink, with no hope of getting better."

jedaqia: "Need to understand apart from judging Idol she's also running a show; a show that usually tend to pick up on the underdogs. I can see that particular Ellen, and no, she doesn't need to be Simon or Paula. I think she needs to find her own style."

JamesKirk: "Unfortunately I don't think Ellen is right for this job. She's an actor, a TV personality and a comedian. I don't believe she understands what it takes to be a great singer."

demolady: "Judging from last night, Ellen is terrible. She knows nothing about music and can not make a complete sentence that is worth listening to. She was rather boring."

bobm3: "Ellen is horrible, horrible, horrible! She has nothing to offer. When she goes first on the judging [she] is very unsure of what to say and very often is overruled by everyone. When she goes last she just agrees with everyone. Also her attempts at bringing in her brand of humor fails every time."

Sure, opinion is split, but I think we can all agree on a few things: she needs more time to develop her style, and more time to settle in. So, I guess, it's best we revisit this question by the finale, and give her another grade. Would she do better or do worse? Do you think Ellen will ultimately bring good things to Idol or not? Yes, that's more research right there...





(Image courtesy of Fox)