EXCLUSIVE: Ellen DeGeneres: "I Don't Want Anyone To Think I Took Paula's Job Away"

Emmy award winner Ellen DeGeneres called Ryan's radio show Thursday, the morning after the news broke that she'd be joining American Idol as the fourth judge.

LISTEN | Ellen Degeneres: "I'm Not Going To Be Mean"



Here are some highlights from the interview:

On her qualifications for being a judge: "I love music, period. I've always loved music. And i'm a huge fan of the show. I haven't missed one show since season one."
"The people are the ones that choose the American Idol. Ultimately it doesn't come down to some expert in the music industry, it comes down to everybody at home that says 'that's the person I relate to, that's the person that I'm going to buy music from'."

On her judging style: "I'm not going to be mean, I hate when Simon [Cowell] is that mean. You can be constructive and criticize somebody that's helpful instead of mean spirited."

On Paula Abdul's departure: "I was shocked like everybody else. I thought Paula was a huge part of the show."
"I was sad, and so I went 'well that's going to be a hole that needs to be filled by someone that really is going to contribute in a totally different way,' and didn't think for a second that was going to be me."
"I hope Paula [Abdul] is okay with it. I don't want anybody to think I took Paula's job away. I feel like she was gone and then everybody was looking for somebody else, then I stepped in. I certainly don't want to be that person that is the evil taking Paula's job away."
"I hope to be that compassionate person, because that's one thing that Paula did bring is that empathy and that compassion."

On what she'll bring to American Idol: "I've gone through the criticism, and I think a lot of these kids all of the sudden are just thrust into this limelight and don't understand that this is just the beginning of being judged. This is just the start of people having opinions about you, so hopefully I will be able to guide them through that, and give them good advice and spot somebody that I think is going to be a huge talent that we'll watch just like everybody else we've chosen through the years."

On juggling two TV shows: "We have to adjust the schedule a little bit. For those days we're going to shoot earlier, and then i'm going to jump in my car and i'm going to drive over and sit down and be entertained by these kids singing for us."
"It'll add a whole lot of content to my show and I think I'm going to bring something to that show that's fresh I hope. I'm going to do it like I do everything else I enter into, with 110% of all I got."