Ellen Degeneres will replace Paula Abdul on American Idol!

Fox just announced Ellen Degeneres will replace Paula Abdul as the fourth judge on American Idol. Degeneres will join the show after a lot of uncertainty around Paula Abdul's contract with the hit show and the disagreements between Abdul and the network over the amount of money Abdul will be paid for a season. If I recall correctly, Fox offered $5 million and Paula wanted $10.

In the meantime, American Idol replaced Abdul with celebrities as Posh (Victoria Beckham), but just as temps, refulsing to announce the identity of the new fourth judge.

Now, Fox has finally announced they've picked comedian Ellen Degeneres for the job:

"I'm thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol. I've watched since the beginning, and I've always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I'll save from not having to text in my vote. Hopefully I'm the people's point of view because I'm just like you. I sit at home and I watch it. … I'm not looking at it in a critical way from the producer's mind. I'm looking at it as a person who is going to buy the music and is going to relate to that person. I'm going to have a day job and a night job. The times we're living in ... we're all doing that."

Here's what Michael K has to say about it on Dlisted. Perez Hilton has a video of Degenres announcing her new gig on her show.