You know how it goes.  There‘s always this long wait between the moment someone wins American Idol to the moment that someone releases a song that‘s not a studio version of a previous performance, or a previously-released obscurity, or a tour bootleg.  Same went with this year‘s final four, although that seems to have shrunk a bit: Kris Allen‘s got a new song.  And oddly, I haven‘t heard of it until it finally dropped.  So here goes another one of those roundups: two items, one about that song, and the other, well, the title should‘ve said it all.

I think I got distracted by all these fall premieres that I pushed this little show known as American Idol on the corner.  Well, before I kink out my schedule and get things back to order, a couple of items, one involving job security, and the other involving actual security.  You know, that serious sort.

Ruh-roh!  Yeah, bad Scooby Doo impression.But that was what I first thought when Nigel Lythgoe spoke up regarding American Idol snagging Ellen DeGeneres as a guest judge--of course, you know, after her guest stint on the 99th episode of

Because since Wednesday night all I‘ve heard is stuff about Ellen, Ellen and Ellen.  Well, there are still stuff about Ellen DeGeneres joining

"I don‘t know how it happened myself," Ellen DeGeneres said, after confirmation that she is taking Paula Abdul‘s vacated seat as the new permanent judge on

Never in my right mind did I imagine that Ellen DeGeneres being a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance would lead to her being a permanent judge on

And the fourth American Idol seat goes to Ellen DeGeneres.Fox has announced that the Emmy-winning talk show host and comedian has joined Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on the Idol judging panel, starting from the ninth season next year.

I think you can really call this an American Idol reunion now, the upcoming VH1 Divas concert.  We‘ve got three former contestants and a former judge.  That counts, right?

Seriously?  I don‘t know.  Since last season‘s top four contestants have snagged record deals--three within weeks, and Danny Gokey just getting his last week--I‘m suddenly wondering as to who will be next contestant from the last batch of

"It‘s like comparing a carrot to a banana," Simon Cowell said over the weekend, when asked about how the chemistry between the American Idol