Paula Abdul On Kara DioGuardi Joining ‘American Idol’

Paula Abdul hardly sounded welcoming with news Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi has been added as a fourth judge for the eighth season of ‘American Idol’. “I am concerned about the audience and acceptance,” Abdul told Johnjay and Rich of 104.7 KISS FM in Phoenix. “Time will tell. We’ll see.”

Paula said the decision was made because they “wanted to try a change. They always tried for a fourth judge because it followed the format of the original show, ‘Pop Idol’. We haven’t had much luck with that working, but we’re gonna give it another try.”

DioGuardi has a long history of writing songs for ‘Idol’ contestants and many other top pop acts this decade. She was heavily involved with Hilary Duff’s ‘Dignity’ album, Christina Aguilera’s ‘Back to Basics’, and Ashlee Simpson’s ‘I Am Me’ and ‘Autobiography’.

Audio at YouTube has since been removed.

‘American Idol’ Auditions At The IZOD Center

August 21, 2008 - Thousands of ‘American Idol’ hopefuls waited in line for their crack at stardom in the show’s eighth season at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Tuesday (August 19). News 12 New Jersey’s Syma Chowdhry was at the scene, talking with some wannabe ‘Idol’ stars and hearing others sing. Video of the segment at CNN.com has since been removed.

‘American Idol’ Auditions Draw Thousands In Jacksonville

August 13, 2008 - ‘Entertainment Tonight’ was on hand in Jacksonville, Florida on Wednesday for the ‘American Idol’ season eight auditions, where thousands lined up at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for a chance to go to Hollywood. Video at ETOnline.com has since been removed.