Kara Dioguardi Songs

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Kara Dioguardi Songs - "American Idol" has finally found its mean girl.In stark contrast to pushover Paula Abdul, new judge Kara DioGuardi showed some teeth in her debut Tuesday night as the fourth judge on "AI." No, the season premiere didn't find her quick with a honed zinger like Simon Cowell.

She favored instead a general tone of condescension, told in an instantly annoying tic of calling everyone "sweetie" and "honey" right before she kicks them to the curb.

"Honey, I've never seen anything like that - and in a not-so-good way," she lobbed at a Michael Jackson wanna-be with a mile-high Afro.

"Sweetie, the reality is you're not at that level," she eye-rolled at some poor girl who professed to be DioGuardi's biggest fan.

DioGuardi has plenty of fans who may not even know they are. She's one of the most commercially savvy - some say, shrewdly cynical - songwriters in current female pop. In the past few years, she has penned hits for Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Hilary Duff, Ashlee Simpson and more. Not coincidentally, she also has penned songs for former "AI" winners David Cook, Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson.

The insertion of a fourth judge has been seen as a necessary tweak for this aging, yet still superpowered, brand. Last year, "Idol" suffered a ratings drop, from an average of nearly 30 million viewers per week to 28 million. Yet that was still enough to not only beat every other show on TV but to surpass its nearest competition ("Dancing With The Stars") by more than 50%.

DioGuardi, 38, grew up a child of privilege in Scarsdale, Westchester County. Later, she attended prestigious Duke University. DioGuardi started off her career as an editorial assistant at Billboard magazine. Ironically, she gave her first song demo to Paula Abdul, back in 1998 when that star was still a performing artist herself. The two formed an alliance and went on to co-author DioGuardi's first recorded song, "Spinning Around," cut by Kylie Minogue in 2000.

DioGuardi actually had an earlier, if highly fleeting, stint as a judge on a music-driven show. In 2006, she sat on a panel meant to cut singers down to size on a false "Idol" show called "The One" on ABC. It died after four episodes.

Although the press has tried to paint DioGuardi and Abdul as rivals on "Idol" - even suggesting that the new judge was brought in to nudge the oft-lampooned old one out - both women have denied it.

It isn't the first time "Idol" has tried to introduce a fourth judge. Back in season two, it hired New York deejay Angie Martinez, who quit a few days in because the critic's role made her uneasy. DioGuardi seems unlikely to follow suit anytime soon.