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"\r\nOn her talk show Tuesday, Ellen DeGeneres addressed critics who say she isn&amp;apos;t qualified to be an American Idol judge.\r\n&amp;quot;Apparently, there&amp;apos;s a lot of debate going on right now whether I&amp;apos;m qualified or not to be the new judge on&amp;#xA0;American Idol,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;... I know there is a lot chatter. I&amp;apos;ll tell you right now, how I know I&amp;apos;m going to be a great judge ... I&amp;apos;ve spent my whole life being judged. So I know what it&amp;apos;s like.&amp;quot;\r\nThe openly gay talk show host, 51, continued, &amp;quot;So I will be kind. I will be compassionate. I will be empathetic, and I will be truthful. I will be an honest judge without being mean.\r\n&amp;quot;But the things that people are saying...&amp;quot; she went on. &amp;quot;I thought America had moved past this. First, we have the first African American President. &amp;#xA0;We&amp;apos;ve sworn in our first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. I think&amp;#xA0;American Idol&amp;#xA0;is ready for their first blonde judge ... I do.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nAs the crowd applauded, she added, &amp;quot;Not a big deal. I&amp;apos;m very excited to be on the show. I will tell you that right now. I just continue to be excited every single day.\r\nShe said she knew &amp;quot;people would have opinions&amp;quot; when she announced she was joining the show.\r\n&amp;quot;I did not want to know what they were because, why should I take that stuff in?&amp;quot; she went on. &amp;quot;I try not to read anything ... nothing. I don&amp;apos;t even read the back of a cereal box.\r\n\r\nShe then talked about former judge Paula Abdul spoofing her during VH1&amp;apos;s&amp;#xA0;Divas Live opener last week.\r\n&amp;quot;I have nothing but love for you, too, Paula, but I want my wig back,&amp;quot; she teased. &amp;quot;I really do. Give it back.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nDeGeneres&amp;apos; only gripe about Abdul&amp;apos;s impersonation?\r\nShe never taps her butt.\r\n&amp;quot;I don&amp;apos;t know what this dance move was...&amp;quot; DeGeneres said. &amp;quot;She did like a little pat of my butt. I&amp;apos;ve never patted my butt like that. Today I might try it ... it&amp;apos;s a new move ... she&amp;apos;s choreographer and I&amp;apos;m going to take that in.&amp;quot;\r\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/ellen-degeneres-2009229>