American Idol Has a New “Hip” Judge
Songwriter Kara DioGuardi will be joining Simon, Paula, and Randy for the eighth season of American Idol as a permanent fourth judge.
The show has hired the help of DioGuardi in order to bring a new perspective when it comes to choosing idols, which, in turn, the show hopes to reinvigorate its credibility and save it from falling ratings.
Idol hasn’t really delivered its promise of producing multiplatinum record sellers. Only a select few have enjoyed post-idol success (Clarkson and Underwood), while most have simply been forgotten. In addition, the chemistry of the three judges (Abdul, Cowell, and Jackson) have grown pretty stagnant over the years—sometimes even predictable, while other times suspiciously scripted.
With the addition of DioGuardi, the show will have a younger, more hip, and more “pop-culturally” sensitive judge to join the mix. While no one really knows, for now, how DioGuardi will deliver her criticisms, she has stated in a recent interview that she “will be more like Cowell rather than the other two.” Other than that, however, DioGuardi possesses qualities that the show might need to get back on top. For one, she’s relatively young. At 37, she will the youngest of the four—Abdul is 46, Cowell is 48, and Jackson is 52. This makes her musical taste more akin to the younger generation, who reportedly “abandoned” the show during its last season—which most likely explains the drop in ratings. More importantly, DioGuardi is working with artists who people actually listen to at present.
The Addition of a new judge may seem like a desperate move for some, while others may think its brilliant, but no matter how you put it, American Idol is always trying to up the ante when it comes to looking for new personalities. So this is definitely good news for all idol hopefuls. Auditions start Tuesday in New York, and you can be sure they’re going to be searching for more diverse individuals to turn some heads and recover some ratings.
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