Ellen DeGeneres will enjoy her American Idol premiere this week and today she joined Ryan Seacrest on his radio show for a quick chat.

Ellen told Ryan that she was pleased to have helped chose a “great eclectic group of people,” for this year’s series.

She also singled out the hardest thing about judging on the show was when faced with a singer who isn’t experienced in the world of showbiz. Hearing negative comments about their performance can be a “harsh taste of reality,” she claimed.

“You can’t teach them experience. Hopefully the people we’ve put through learn very quickly to gain that kind of confidence that usually only comes from experience.”

“That’s one thing I bring to the show. I know what it feels like to stand on stage and try to impress a room full of people. I want them to hear the truth … to get good advice but at the same time I’m careful to not hurt their feelings.”

“I want to be really, really honest and sometimes the best way for me to be honest is to use humor. I’m going to try to cushion it with humor without belittling the situation.”