So, Ellen DeGeneres made her debut tonight on "American Idol" and turned out to be pretty sharp and not just going for laughs at every turn. (Though her making people do the hokey-pokey was, in fact, funny.) But what really jumped out at me about our first Hollywood episode (which, as usual, is the first time I watch each season) was how many really good singers I heard. Andrew Garcia's acoustic guitar reinvention of "Straight Up" made me sit up and take notice, and he was one of a bunch of very talented people with guitars, including the Zooey Deschanel-sounding Lilly Scott, Didi Benami making a Kara-written song sound great, Crystal Bowersox doing the best "Natural Woman" the show's heard in a while and Janell Wheeler coming across like a less nervous, more vocally-polished Brooke White. And in the non-instrumental category, Mary Powers has a fine rock voice. I could see several of these people go a long way if things break right, and I could see myself enjoying them greatly if they do.
What did everybody else think, both of Ellen's debut and the talent on display?
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