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"Ellen DeGeneres&amp;apos; first official American Idol photos were released Tuesday by Fox.The new judge, 51, is all smiles while leaning on a microphone in the shot.\r\nCheck out Ellen DeGeneres&amp;apos; funniest momentsSimon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson pose alongside host Ryan Seacrest in additional photos.The 9th season kicks off Jan. 12 with a two-night, four-hour season premiere.\r\nSee Ellen DeGeneres&amp;apos; wedding photoDeGeneres -- who replaced Paula Abdul -- won&amp;apos;t appear on the show until February.\r\nIn the meantime, celebs like Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Katy Perry and Shania Twain will judge the auditions.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m very excited to be on the show,&amp;quot; DeGeneres has said. &amp;quot;I will tell you that right now. I just continue to be excited every single day.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/ellen-degeneres-idol-pics-201051>