American Idol’s newest judge, Ellen DeGeneres, celebrates her birthday today, and the Emmy Award-winning host has many reasons to celebrate. This September, we announced that Ellen joined the American Idol family as the newest judge. She will make her American Idol debut during the Hollywood week audition episodes, premiering on Tuesday, February 9th.

After making her big American Idol announcement on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen opened up about how she got the position and what makes her a good fit to be a judge on American Idol. Watch the videos.

For her birthday, Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show today to perform “Strut” off his album For Your Entertainment. In fact, “Strut” is the song that Adam co-wrote with another American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi (as well as Greg Wells). To help raise funds for the Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund, Adam donated a special signed portrait and a signed pair of Ellen underwear which is now up for bid.

Happy Birthday, Ellen!

Can’t wait to watch Ellen make her American Idol debut? Add her as a MyIdol friend in the meantime by clicking on the “Add to Friend” button under her portrait on her bio page. You can even post a birthday wish on her MyIdol profile page.