(Jan. 7) - 'American Idol' fanatics are about to learn if they'll have a love OR hate relationship with Kara DioGuardi, the pop songwriter who's about to shake up TV land as judge No. 4 on the nation's biggest show.
Singer and TV personality Paula Abdul hosts the MTV Presents RAH! Paula Abdul;s Cheerleading Bowl at the New Balance Track and Field Center at the Armory on November 6, 2008 in New York City.
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Singer and TV personality Paula Abdul hosts the MTV Presents RAH! Paula Abdul
Brian Ach/WireImage.com
Singer and TV personality Paula Abdul hosts the MTV Presents RAH! Paula Abdul
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** FILE ** In this Aug. 26, 2008 file photo, Kara DioGuardi, the newest judge on "American Idol", arrives at a promotional event for the show in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file)
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** FILE ** In this March 20, 2008 file photo, Simon Cowell attends the Details magazine Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Phil McCarten, file)
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** FILE ** In this March 20, 2008 file photo, Simon Cowell attends the Details magazine Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Phil McCarten, file)
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British "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell smiles during the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London in this July 1, 2007 file photo. Cowell said on December 17, 2008 that the apparent suicide of a former contestant and obsessed fan forced him to think "long and hard" about his blunt comments to hopeless singers on the show. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/Files ( BRITAIN )
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** FILE ** In this Aug. 26, 2008 file photo, "American Idol" judges, from left, Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson arrive at a promotional event for the show in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file)
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** FILE ** In this Sept. 5, 2008 file photo, TV Personality Paula Abdul attends the Conde Nast Media Group's Fifth Annual Fashion Rocks at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, file)
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** FILE ** In this April 14, 2008 file photo, "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul arrives at the 2008 CMT Awards, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)
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With the season approaching fast (season debut Jan. 13), you might be wondering: Just who is Kara DioGuardi? What kind of judge will she be? Is she being groomed to replace Paula? Where will she sit?
DioGuardi,38, is a hit machine whose songs have been recorded by Gwen Stefani ('Rich Girl'), Christina Aguilera ('Aint No Other Man'), Pink ('Sober') and others, including past 'Idol' winners Kelly Clarkson and David Cook. She represents a big change for the Fox series, which is adding a new voice to those of veteran judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul in an eighth-season effort to freshen its familiar formula.
She started writing songs after graduating from Duke, where she went pre-law, then landed a job at Billboard magazine, and in 1998 walked up to Paula Abdul and handed her a demo. Abdul liked DioGuardi's work so much, she flew her out to Los Angeles to stay with her for six weeks of collaboration. Together they wrote Kylie Minogue's comeback single, 'Spinning Around.'
"We were the best roommates," Abdul told Entertainment Weekly while talking about that time. Adds DioGuardi, "We didn't have one argument. We lived very well together -- it was the strangest thing."
So much for rumors of intra-panel squabbles already. "They're like brothers and sisters at this point," DioGuardi said, having already taped the preliminary auditions AND the Hollywood rounds for the season.
"I'm like the long-lost cousin who they're not sure they wanted to see, but now they're like, Okay, you can stay for dinner."
"When I heard she was going to be the fourth judge, I thought, ha ha, hee hee, Simon has no idea I have an ally now," Abdul said.
Since you probably didn't watch ABC's blatant 'Idol' ripoff 'The One,' in which she appeared, you probably don't know what kind of judge she'll be. She makes it crystal clear: "I'm not gonna be this nice on the show."
On those sometimes-awful-sometimes-brilliant 'Idol' auditions, this is what she had to say: "A lot of times people will sing a big song that they don't have the voice for instead of bringing out the uniqueness in their tone. Another thing is, don't cheese me out. It's not a wedding band. And emote. Make me feel like you mean it. Don't just sing the way the song was written. That was Mariah's interpretation. Now what are you gonna do?"
She'll be sitting between Randy and Paula. "They tried [putting] me between her and Simon, but they kept trying to communicate and I didn't want to be in the middle of that," she told EW.
And for the record, the new girl has no intention of bringing down her predecessor. "Paula and I have a good vibe. I have respect for Paula. I'm not of the thinking that women should drag each other down."
Abdul says she isn't worrying about her job security: "I was never told that she was coming in to take my place."
What about Cowell's claims that the two "girls" have ganged up on him when it comes to rating contestants?
"There's definitely times Paula and I voice our opinion and it's of the same ilk. And if that's not what Simon thinks, then there's a little bit of tension there. But it's all fun. Nobody's going back to their room crying," DioGuardi told the Associated Press.
