It's time to get a larger table.
Five months before the new time of year of American Idol is set to kick off (and patently trying to steal some of Dancing With the Stars' thunder), producers ar shaking things up in a expectant way, messing with what was until now a winning rule and adding a fourth permanent evaluate to the table.
Joining Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson when the eighth season of the reality juggernaut begins in January is prolific singer-songwriter Kara DioGuardi.
"Believe me, it's outta nowhere for me, too," DioGuardi assured dismayed viewers on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio receiver show this morning.
"I got a call from my agent, saying, you experience, they're look for a fourth judge, and I was like, 'Uh, do you make the wrong number? Why are you calling me?'
"So they met with me, and threesome days agone I got the call to go to New York�and hither I am."
The Grammy nominee's name may not be familiar to Idol viewing audience, but her sound should be. DioGuardi has strong ties to the behind-the-scenes world of Idol, composition tracks for David Cook, David Archuleta, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Bo Bice, Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks.
She has also more than earned her certification outside the Idol universe, penning hits for Britney Spears, Jonas Brothers, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Paris Hilton, Avril Lavigne, Lindsay Lohan, Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield, Santana, Hilary Duff, Simpsons Jessica and Ashlee and just about any other artist who's cracked Billboard's Top 10 in recent years.
And if tV audience are speculative where on the judges' scale of causticity she'll fall...
"It's hard for me to non be honest," she aforementioned. "I'm known to be very exclamatory...My vibe is to the point, and I toilet be pretty tough at times, simply also nurturing when I need to be."
The Idol brain trust, meanwhile, doesn't seem too concerned with altering the show's chemistry, despite the fact that they take tried and spectacularly failed once earlier.
FOX
"We are turning the heat up on Idol this class and ar thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges' table," creator and executive producer Simon Fuller said. "She is a smart, wise lady, and one of America's to the highest degree successful songwriters.
"We know she will get a new level of energy and excitement to the show."
Fellow executive producer C�cile Frot-Coutaz added that the series had intended from the outset to have a four-judge panel, as both its British predecessor Pop Idol and current counterpart X Factor do.
"We've seen from our international series that having a fourth judge creates a dynamic that benefits both the contestants and the viewers."
But not always the judges.
Producers tried once before to add a fourth label to the Idol commingle, hiring New York DJ Angie Martinez to link the second season of the prove. She lasted just v days before quitting, after revealing she had never bothered to watch an episode earlier signing on.
Martinez issued a statement at the clip saying it was "also uncomfortable for me to tell mortal else to give up on their dream," and producers chop-chop reverted plunk for to the three-judge panel.
Until now.
For her part, DioGuardi said she's worried around being the "new thomas Kyd on the block," warning her fellow judges to "kind of, like, go easy with me a little bit," but aforesaid she was nonetheless "just flattered that they asked me to join them."
And lest whatsoever haters try to pit her against fellow female judge Abdul, DioGuardi in reality credits the onetime pop star with being "one of the first people to believe in" her�she cowrote a song with Abdul for Kylie Minogue when she was first starting out.
"I owe Paula a circle, yeah. I'm gonna gift her a big fatty kiss when I view her."
As for her other new colleagues, DioGuardi called Jackson, whom she has worked with in the studio, "the most mirthful guy with the superlative energy...I'm a big fan of his."
And Cowell, she said, gave her a congratulatory headphone call over the weekend. "He was very encouraging and cool and welcomed me...made me feel like I don't want to be so scared."
Since DioGuardi only just linked the panel, she testament likely not make her Idol debut until somewhat later in the season, having missed out on the absolute majority of the open auditions, which kicked off in San Francisco July 17.
She joins the judges' table for the first time this calendar week with the New York auditions.
(Originally promulgated Aug. 25, 2008, at 7:20 a.m. PT.)
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