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Ellen DeGeneres- seen here hosting the 79th Annual Academy Awards in 2007- will critique vocal hopefuls on American Idol’supcoming season. The comedienne plans on keeping her day job, as well. (picture courtesy of Reuters/Gary Hershorn)

After revealing that she landed the gig as Paula Abdul’s replacement on American Idol, comedienne and TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres barely had time to celebrate before several record labels cut the party short.

As faithful viewers of DeGeneres’ show are well aware, Ellen opens each show with her monologue and then starts dancing down the aisles and with studio members to a different song every day. The problem is, The Ellen DeGeneres Show never paid for the right to use any of the music. In turn, labels such as Arista Music, Atlantic Recording Corp., Virgin Records America and Motown Record Co. are suing the show for copyright infringement.  Since the daytime talk show premiere in September 2003, DeGeneres has used more than 1,000 songs, without obtaining the clearance to use them.

A spokesperson for DeGeneres’ show says that the show currently is negotiating with the record labels to reach an “amicable” deal.

Meanwhile, some are wondering exactly why FOX selected DeGeneres to fill Abdul’s void on Idol, given that she has no musical experience. Fox reality chief Mike Darnell told The Hollywood Reporter that DeGeneres will bring her her wit and love of music to the Idol proceedings, while DeGeneres herself says that while she will be kind to contestants, she also will be honest.

Like Abdul, DeGeneres has a fuzzy, likable personality and should fill the void of “the nice judge” well enough. Plus, that wit of hers should keep Simon Cowell in check, even when he makes the inevitable comments about her lack of musical expertise. Cowell did not hold back in his occasional snide remarks about Abdul’s less-than-revered history as a pop artist, so why should he hold back on DeGeneres, who never recorded an album or did anything professionally within the music industry?

While DeGeneres probably will have to contend with some snickering, Abdul apparently is rooting for her. On her Twitter page, Abdul wrote that DeGeneres is “wildly funny, talented and I wish her the best of luck!”

Word is that after logging on and posting her rah-rah comments, Paula returned to sticking pins in her Ellen DeGeneres voodoo doll… (kidding… of course?)

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