Pop Stand

Here's a surprise nobody saw coming: Ellen DeGeneres announced during the taping of her talk show today that she will fill Paula Abdul's seat on the "American Idol" judge table! She said she's been negotiating this in secret for a few weeks, and was "dying" to spill, but had to keep it a secret from everyone. What are her qualifications, you ask? Well, she loves music, hasn't missed an episode of "Idol" since it started, and "I'm not looking at it in a critical way from the music producer's mind, I'm looking at it as a person who's going to buy that music." Ellen says she'll continue with her talk show after she joins "Idol," which has had a group of fill-in judges during auditions. "I'm going to have a day job and a night job," she said. In a statement, Fox said, "DeGeneres will sit alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi and offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition." What about our girl Paula? She says she's working on some kind of a deal, to do something or other.

When Jon and Kate broke up, people had a lot of sympathy for the often-belittled Jon. But a series of really stupid movies have turned the tide of public opinion against him. Whether it's his constant cell-phone use while he's supposed to be spending time with his kids, his "soul mate" connection with 22-year-old Hailey Glassman or his new Mercedes SUV that seats five -- when he has eight kids -- the guy has shown us why Kate referred to him as "almost like a lame fish." His "Primetime: Family Secrets" appearance was no different. So Kate will cohost The View next week, and Jon gets grilled by Chris Cuomo.

Mary J. Blige is the second big performer to deny that she will appear in the star-studded tribute concert for Michael Jackson being organized by his brother Jermaine in Vienna later this month. After Jermaine announced that Chris Brown would perform, Chris's spokesman said it wasn't true.

Two years after he was severely injured in a car crash while Hulk Hogan's son, Nick Hogan Bollea, was at the wheel, John Graziano has been released from the veterans hospital. The 26-year-old Iraq War veteran will live with his mother, although he will still need 24-hour care due to paralysis and brain damage. Graziano's father, who is in jail on charges that he tried to hire someone to kill his estranged wife, Graziano's mother, expressed concern about her ability to care for him. Nick Bollea served five months in jail after being convicted of reckless driving.

Lindsay Lohan has been named the artistic adviser of much-lauded fashion line Emanuel Ungaro, according to E!Online. The starlet will be collaborating with the label's newly appointed chief designer, Estrella Archs, to put together the looks for the 2010 spring/summer collection, which will be shown Oct. 4 at Paris Fashion Week. "Lindsay is a world consumer with a clear eye for fashion," said Mounir Moufarrige, president of Emanuel Ungaro worldwide. Lindsay says she plans to immerse herself in the work. "When I'm involved in a project, I give my all to it," she says. "I've always played a big part in what I wear, the costumes. ... To be in a position where I'm working with a fashion house in Paris sets it apart from every other celebrity brand."

Hugh Hefner has filed for divorce from former Playmate Kimberly Conrad, from whom he has been separated since 1998. The pair have two sons together and all seemed well in their estrangement until Hef sold the house next to the Playboy Mansion where Conrad and their sons were living, and she sued him. Hefner told TMZ.com that that was the reason for the divorce, not that, as he was glad to share, she cheated on him early in the relationship. Documents filed with the court show that he pulls in $116,667 a month from Playboy, $121,099 from dividends and investments and (get this!) $1,869 in Social Security. He's worth more than $43 million, not counting his Playboy stock.

 Brad Paisley, reigning Country Music Association male vocalist of the year, was re-nominated in that category and five others,leading the pack with the most nominations. Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Jamey Johnson, George Strait and Zac Brown Band each received four nominations. Teenage sensation Swift was nominated for female vocalist of the year, as well as for the top award, entertainer of the year --  pitting her against Kenny Chesney, Strait, Paisley and Urban. Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood are nominated for female vocalist of the year.The 43rd Annual CMA Awards will be held in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 11, and be broadcast on ABC.

Just days before the anniversary of Sept. 12, 1953 -- the day Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married into the Kennedy clan -- Life magazine has published a series of 20 never-before-seen photos of Jackie, on her wedding day, as a young mother, and at state events with her husband. The photos include an eerie one in which the president and his wife sit in an open car, three years before he was assassinated in Dallas.

-- Anne Neville