And then there were two. After a year of high expectations and underwhelming performance, Ellen DeGeneres announced today that she will not return to American Idol next year. This leaves, with Simon Cowell’s spot still not filled, two openings on Idol’s Supreme Court-like bench—at least. With Fox preparing to present its fall TV plans to [...]

American Idol moved into its live phase last night, with a performance set from the twelve semifinalist women. (The semifinal contestants will be singing music “from the Billboard Hot 100″: i.e., popular songs from pretty much any time, ever.) And it was a bit of a letdown for two heretofore heavily praised entities: the girls [...]