Fall TV Blog

Ellen DeGeneres has said she will be a “compassionate” judge when she joins the panel of American Idol on its upcoming season. But she’s also promising to be honest with Idol hopefuls — whether they sing well or not.

“I think it’s going to be hard, but as my career has grown, … I’ve learned how to be tougher and learned how to say no,” DeGeneres tells the AP. “I think I can do it and I think I can do it in a respectful way.”

In the interview, DeGeneres also reveals that American Idol reached out to her to fill the spot left empty by Paula Abdul after the talk show host and comedian was a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance. (more…)

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Captain Unitard, and she’s headed to the Jury House. Lydia’s stay in the BB house was marked by hair color changes, a tryst with the musclebound Jessie, and eviction nomination
after eviction nomination. The pouting finally caught up to the 24-year-old tattooed makeup artist who sat down with PEOPLE to talk about what Jessie has to look forward to in the coming week, her
disappointment in Chima, how she plans to permanently commemorate her
stay on BB, and why she regrets not trusting “In the Kevin.”

Q: What is the first thing that you’re going to say to Jessie when you
walk into the Jury House?

Lydia: Probably an “F-Bomb”, and then, “Cover your balls!”

Q: Is he really in trouble with you, or is that something that you
played up to save a little face?

Lydia: He is! He is legitimately in trouble, and he has a lot of
making up to do!

Q: Making up to do? So, is there the possibility of a
reconciliation? He can start sweet-talking you, calling you baby,
telling you that you were the only one, just to save himself from a
kick to the groin?

Lydia: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There always is that possibility, but I don’t
do the baby thing. There’s always the hope to work your way back
into the good graces. Everyone deserves a second chance. (more…)

The end of her long run on American Idol is surely just the beginning for Paula Abdul.

Having decided to leave television’s top-rated show after eight seasons, Abdul, 47, finds herself as the most sought-after personality in the industry, with three of the major broadcast networks on the record salivating at the prospect of landing her as a judge for their own shows.

Top ABC executive Stephen McPherson has said he’d love to have Abdul on Dancing with the Stars. NBC’s Paul Telegdy is eyeing her for a possible spot at the judges’ table on America’s Got Talent. And even her previous employer, FOX, has a shot, with So You Think You Can Dance executive producer Nigel Lythgoe counting himself as a huge Abdul fan.

Tsuni/Gamma

Victoria Beckham plans to be the nice judge when it comes to critiquing contestants on American Idol — but she expects to trade some not-so-nice barbs with prickly judge Simon Cowell.

“I like that fact that’s he’s honest. I think he’s very funny,” Beckham told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show Friday. “He has a very tongue-in-cheek British sense of humor, which I have too. I’m looking forward to a bit of banter. I hope he does give me a little bit of a hard time. I love that. I feed off of that.”

Beckham, 35, says she doesn’t know Cowell well, but has one very pointed memory of him. “He is the only man in the music industry who turned down the Spice Girls and said we would never work,” Beckham said with a laugh.

Asked if she plans follow in the footsteps of Paula Abdul, who’s always been the most kind and nurturing judge on the show, Beckman says, “I want to be nice to people. I know how it feels to stand there and be judged … I don’t want to shatter anybody’s dream, but at the same time there’s nothing wrong with constructive criticism.”

As for whether she feels guilty replacing Abdul, she says, “I don’t. I’m a spiritual person and I believe that you get back whet you put out there, and I hope she does something that is bigger and better …. There’s something great for her around the corner, I’m sure.”

So how should prospective contestants aim to please Posh Spice? “What I’m looking for [in an Idol winner] is a great singer and somebody who has that star quality. It’s about the whole package.”

One other quality the fashion-savvy star would like to see: a contestant who possesses “natural style.”

Beckham is currently in Denver, where she’s set to participate in the first round of auditions for the upcoming season of American Idol. — Marla Lehner

Jun Sato/WireImage; Charles Sykes/ Rex USA

Megan Joy knows not everyone was a fan of her quirky style of singing and dancing on American Idol, and the day after her exit, the Sandy, Utah, native had a message for all the haters. “If you didn’t get me, I probably wouldn’t get you, so we’re even,” Joy told PEOPLE with a laugh.

Sensing that she would be sent packing, Joy, 23, ensured that her last night on the Idol stage was a memorable one. She told judge Simon Cowell she didn’t care that he hadn’t liked her performance the previous night, and she flapped and cawed like a bird as she made her way to her Bottom 3 seat. “If I’m gonna go out, I was ready to go out with a bang,” she said of her antics. “It was [good TV], and I’m here to entertain.” (more…)

• Win Top Model, get a career and score a hot, celeb boyfriend? That seems to be the case for Cycle 7 winner Caridee, who is rumored to be dating model-musician Tyson Beckford. So who do you think spends more time in front of the mirror–Caridee or Tyson?

• It’s been ten years since the show about nothing became, well, nothing. So what has Jerry and the rest of the Seinfeld gang been up to? Hmmm, let’s see, failed sitcoms, racial tirades and, oh yeah, that Bee Movie.

• Seems like celeb rehab is the thing to do, no, seriously. Aaron Carter is in talks to join VH1’s Celebrity Rehab next season. The younger brother of boy band-er Nick Carter would appear alongside Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss and Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach. Boy, sounds like Dr. Drew has his work cut out for him!

Jason Kempin/WireImage; Stephen Lovekin/Getty

Parvati Shallow, the 25-year-old veteran from the Cook Islands season of Survivor, defeated recent Survivor: China contestant Amanda Kimmel to become the $1 million winner of Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites.

“I honestly haven’t even thought about it,” Shallow tells PEOPLE of her big payout. “I figured that would be presumptuous to assume that I won, so I haven’t been planning out what I’m going to do with the money. I do have a charity I am very involved with and doing public relations for that’s called Knockouts for Girls and we provide scholarships and boxing training for underprivileged girls, so I’m just going to help out the charity and keep working for it and maybe do a little shopping!”

Shallow was one of the main architects of this season’s self-dubbed Black Widow Brigade, an alliance of women that one by one eliminated the biggest threats in the game with a series of exciting blindsides. “That’s probably the best ensemble performance by a group of Survivors that we ever had,” host Jeff Probst told PEOPLE before the finale. “I can’t say she’s surprised me but I’m impressed with how Parvati’s played.” (more…)

Before Sunday’s finale of Survivor: Micronesia airs on CBS (8 p.m. ET), PEOPLE checked in with the show’s host — and resident torch-snuffer — Jeff Probst to get his take on the final four, the great streak of tribal council blindsides and his new MySpace page. –Cynthia Wang

There are four women in the final, Amanda, Cirie, Parvati and Natalie. What is your take and did you expect them to be in the running for the million-dollar prize?
I’m not surprised Amanda’s in it. Overall, she has a very good understanding of how to play Survivor. She’s played two times in a row and has gone deep in the game both times. Cirie — not surprised at all! She is so much cagier. You saw this season that Cirie is so much smarter than she let on her first season. She played that adorable, fish-out-of-water, laughing and giggling all the time when she was on Panama: Exile Island. But this season, when she had it out with [Jonathan] Penner and said, “Listen. You think I don’t know what’s going on. I know.” She’s proven she knows how to play. Parvati, I can’t say she’s surprised me but I’m impressed with how Parvati’s played, particularly with one huge move, bringing Alexis and Natalie into the fold of her, Amanda and Cirie. That move was great because Parvati put herself in a great place of having Alexis and Natalie on one side and Amanda and Cirie on the other side and therefore, for my money, Parvati would be the one I get rid of next because she might have more votes. Next on the block would have to be Cirie because she is so likable. The dark horse is definitely Natalie. I don’t think Natalie can win this game but that might make her a great person to sit next to because she has been so evil. (more…)

In a never-ending contest to become the most foolish player in Survivor history, 22-year-old student Erik Reichenbach, of Ypsilanti, Mich., made a forceful bid for the title when he gave his immunity necklace to Natalie and was promptly booted from Survivor: Micronesia.

After returning back to camp from last week’s elimination, Erik told Natalie that he thought Amanda was the most popular remaining contestant with the jury. Natalie told Erik that if either won the next reward challenge, they should send the other person to Exile Island to look for the immunity idol, or take the other to the reward. Meanwhile, Amanda tried to manipulate Erik to send Parvati to Exile, playing to his sense of guilt at voting against her in the previous tribal council.

She succeeded. After proving himself the ultimate fan at the reward challenge, which tested the remaining five on how well they knew past seasons of the game, Erik sent Parvati to Exile and took Amanda on a reward helicopter ride to a luxury resort for spa time and a meal. (more…)

In a third blindside in a row, Alexis Jones, 24, a motivational speaker from Beverly Hills, Calif., was eliminated when Amanda played her hidden immunity idol on Thursday’s episode of Survivor: Micronesia. Already sitting on the jury, James Clement, the gravedigger from Lafayette, La., also left the game when his injured finger risked infecting his joint, which could lead to the loss of his hand.

The reward challenge was the infamous “What the Tribe Thinks” question-and-answer game. First, everyone took a written survey and then answered questions out loud about how the group responded as a whole. The more correct answers a player got, the more chances to knock out another player. The winner of the challenge would get to send someone to Exile Island and take a visiting loved one to swim in Jellyfish Lake. Cirie, who seemed to know the most what other tribe members were thinking, was the last person able to knock someone out of the game and picked Alexis to win and sent Amanda into exile. (more…)