Scoot down, Simon. ‘Idol’ gets a new judge
Monday, August 25th, 2008
American Idol contestants are about to get a little bit more criticism — or support, if they’re doing things right.
Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul will be joined by a fourth judge for the upcoming season of Idol. Kara DioGuardi, a songwriter and music producer known for working with the original Idol winner — Kelly Clarkson — will pull up a chair to the judging table for an added twist to Season 8.
“For the past seven seasons, Paula has had to endure the experience of being the only woman at the judges’ table,” Mike Darnell, president ofalternative programming of Fox wrote in a statement. “With Kara by her side, Paula has some backup and now there is going to be a lot more ‘girl power’ on the show.”
Girl power or not, the fourth judge is not something all too uncommon for Idol fans. During the first season celebrities guests and mentors for the week joined the three most famous judges on reality television to share their thoughts and give contestants feedback.
But adding DioGuardi, who also has worked with Faith Hill, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood and others, will be a new kind of voice, so to speak. Her expertise and hands-on work with at least to past Idol winners (Clarkson and Underwood) will bring another industry opinion that could provide new insight to the show.
What may be interesting to see is how DioGuardi’s expertise will shift the focus of the show. It also will be interesting to see if she pens the upcoming winner’s Idol finale song. In the past two years, a songwriting competition has determined the first Idol single.
