Image Credit: Michael Becker/FoxIn all the rampant speculation about the shape and size of American Idol‘s season 10 judging panel — Ellen is out! Jennifer Lopez is (possibly) in! Steven Tyler is dropping hints! — Kara DioGuardi’s ouster has been all but treated as a foregone conclusion. But it’s worth noting that a Fox spokesperson again declined comment this morning on DioGuardi’s future with the show. [Fox's session at the TCA Press Tour is slated for this morning in Los Angeles, although sources close to the show said on Friday that an announcement about the season 10 panel won't be happening there.]
Is it possible that the woman who went from squawking about “package artists” and dropping “early Aerosmith” gaffes in season 8 to offering tangible constructive advice to contestants in season 9 might be able to hold onto her position at Fox’s ratings juggernaut? And just as importantly, should she? While I’m definitely in the camp that thinks J.Lo could turn out to be a terrific addition to the show — if she avoids Ellen’s laundry list of mistakes — I’m also slightly worried that a panel free of both Simon Cowell and Kara would lack the business-minded feedback and I’m-not-worried-about-my-public persona honesty that Idol‘s crop of aspiring young singers so desperately needs. If Ken Warwick, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, & Co. feel it’s absolutely necessary to keep at least one veteran judge on the show for its upcoming tenth season, maybe they should gamble on the polarizing woman with some of her own compositions currently on Billboard’s Hot 100 rather than the former Journey session player who hasn’t found a synonym for “pitchy” after almost a decade of live Idol telecasts. What do you think?
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If J-Lo and Tyler are already locks, I’d take Kara over Randy in a heartbeat. Plus it might be fun to see a panel where all three judges look like a lady.
+100! I agree, though. Kara over Randy any day of the week. She made a lot of improvements last season and deserves to stay.
As long as she can refrain from making it all about her. That was my biggest critique of her. She is there for the constestants, not herself, and J-Lo needs to hear that too.
ANd you don’t think that Simon made made it all about himself? His comments were just as often about being snarky and clever as they were about giving feedback.
KARA = the new Randy
STEVEN = the new Paula
JLO = the new Simon
No thanks! American Idol-please don’t keep her on the show. We don’t need her interviews were she talks bad about contestants and we don’t need her fake bull crap ways. Even when Kris Allen sang Man in the mirror last year, she acted like she hated his performance, everyone else INCLUDING Simon loved the performance. And then the next day she has the nerve to try to cover herself up by saying that’s not what she meant. And the brainwashing she did to Katie Stevens. Please…no thanks. It’s going to have to be just a goodbye for Kara. She is too unfair and self centered.
Very clever Michael. Instead of saying comment if you want Kara to stay, you said comment on who you would prefer as a judge-Randy or Kara. Of course a lot of these people are gonna say Kara because they think Randys a joke that does not have a serious personality on the show. But the truth is, Kara annoys everyone. She is so full of herself and desperate for attention. That is not what this show needs!
Go to yahoo on the image menu and type in Kara Dioguardi. She certainly can help these contestants be a star by looking promiscuous. She is not classy!
Saying you’d take KAra over Randy is like saying you’d take Urine over excrement.
Thanks a lot oh really! That picture of kara in the white short dress holding her crotch is gonna give me nightmares all week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF is she doing with the microphone cord wrapped around her legs?!?!LOL those are lame pictures!
Why does she always have to touch her * in her pictures? Wash those hands kara!!!!
@Jackie. I don’t know whose post you were reading, but it couldn’t have been mine. I was merely calling out the poster for criticizing Kara for doing something that all the judges did, making it about them. I’ve already indicated in other posts that I do like Kara but think that a clean sweep is necessary(she’s very polarizing).
This article sucks. How pathetic of you. Your a biased writer. Asking people to write who they would prefer as a judge, Randy or Kara. So lame. I guess Entertainment Weekly is careless on who their writer are.
Yeah, she made of a lot of “improvements” to the season that was basically total failure!
Hahahahahahahahaha!
Oh please please please let Randy be bought out of his contract and let Kara stay!
I agree – Randy hasn’t had any constructive to say from Day 1. I also think Kara has an insight to the business that Randy lacks. Hey Fox!! Buy Randy out and keep Kara.
Kara may be a songwriter (and a bad one at that), but Randy has greater insight because he was a record producer. Idol needs an all new panel imo, it’s the only way I’d actually watch it again.
agree – Kara over Randy, definitely
I think it is time for Kara to GO. Randy is the best judge they have. Kara gets jealous over any female that happens to be better looking then her. Time for to go. She needs to judge with her ears and not her eyes.
HIGH larious comment. You rock.
“Yo yo yo… so, check it out. It was just alright for me, for you.”
i’ll take “package artist” over “dawg” anyday if it’s between the two (bye bye rand-o), but here’s hoping they’re BOTH no shows come january!
Ha! Laughed out loud right there, dawg!
I don’t know what some of you are talking about. I like Randy. He is so funny.
Randy is fine! Dawg or not – it looks like he cares about contestants and also he has an eye on a talent. Kara only cares about herself and how “cute” and “smart” her comments are. All this looking around “did you see how smart I am?” Please! Fire her already and keep ANYBODY there for all I care. Nobody can be worse than Kara! NOBODY!
oh steve. snap! very funny and very clever
I wish the writer listed them. I would like to know.
What were Ellen’s “laundry list of mistakes?”
The formula for judges is male-female-male, producer, popstar, a$$hole. Kara cannot fill the popstar role (her worst moments last year were when she tried to be Paula.) Randy is already filling the producer role. And two women on the panel is seen as issue-laden, poeple want to pit them against each other (Paula v. kara) or worse, they do pit against each other (Kara v. Katy Perry.) She just doesn’t fit in Nigel’s vision of the equation.
Kara is also a producer.
lololololololololol
No matter what he says, Randy was never a producer (until he released his various artists album). He was just a popular bass player. Yeah, his comments rae worthless. Illiterate.
Kara was overbearing and she encouraged contestants to do more melisma to show they were into their song. WRONG! But I’d prefer her over Randy.
Randy has always been a lot more than just a bass player. Go to Wikipedia and do your homework before you start talking! Randy is the music manager with the knowledge. Kara has never been a music manager.
Um, oh please, do YOUR homework…they make a lot of idiot music managers…it’s about luck. Randy is “fair” at best. He landed in the right place at the right time. He is mediocre at best. And the day where going to Wikipedia is equivalent to “doing your homework” is the day the world is populated with illiterates (uh, no offense)
LOL at the “early Aerosmith” gaffe. That was incredibly awkward and really ignorant.
Totally ambivalent about Kara otherwise.
That WAS pretty funny…it would be even funnier if it turns out that two years later, she’s sitting next to the lead singer of
Aerosmith.
(Still, I’d definitely take Kara over Randy, who is absolutely useless.)
To me not as bad as “Studio 57″ (was she thinking of a nice steak with Heinz 57 at the time?)
And of course the infamous ’6-words’ (and saying it in 8) “One of the Best performance of the night”..
saying it in 8 ..
(smiley was unintentional)
Kara is the real reason ratings dropped I think. I love the way Katy Perry destroyed her when she was guest-judging. Kara is such a mess and doesn’t know much about music or the business. She gets well-known facts completely wrong frequently. Her AND Randy, while being so-call “musicians” often say completely inaccurate things about “melody shape” or “out of tune” or “nailing the melody”. It’s like they got lucky in the business but they are both out of their depth. I’m not sure how Simon got it right all the time other than just having a good eye and ear for a commercial product, but he has always been the only one that made sense and was consistently accurate with his critique. I really really hope Kara gets dropped. I won’t watch another season with her on it.
I can see some potential for cat fights between Kara and J Lo. Kara is a predatory Queen Bee and won’t like someone prettier than herself on the panel.
Jennifer would get so annoyed with Kara. Imagine the real and genuine Jenny from the block sitting next to the fake Kara. It’s just not gonna work.
@exactly: Real and genuine?
When someone can make you root for Katy Perry, you know they’re super unlikeable! I found myself actually liking Katy Perry a tiny bit during those auditions!
I’m not Kara’s biggest fan, but Katy Perry is a no-talent buffoon. Auto-tune is her best friend. She has no business critizing anyone.
Agreed 100% – not that I like Kara all that much, but Katy Perry was a joke as a judge. Why is she famous anyway?
Katy Perry is a tool. Her career wouldn’t exist without Autotune. She’s an imbecile and her popularity just shows how pathetic today’s “music” stars are. Give me Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks and the Wilson sisters. You can have this Perry idiot (and her equally moronic husband).
Katy does have the business to criticize Kara. Maybe Kara might have been horrible to Katy before because they worked together before the auditions on Katy’s cd.
Wait AI, you’re saying Kara doesn’t know much about music or the business? LOL you DO realize she’s one of the most successful songwriters of all time right? She’s written super huge hits for Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Santana, Pussy Cat Dolls, Christina Aguilera, Meatloaf, Britney Spears, & on & on & on. Saying she knows nothing about music or the business is just laughable at best and completely mis-informed at worst.
She has never ever been a music manager. She is a songwriter and record producer-wooptidoo!!! How is a songwriter going to help someone be a star? A music manager like Randy knows the advice to give to contestants so that other music managers will hire them.
If that were the criteria.. then hire Diane Warne (who incidentally wrote “Don’t want to Miss a Thing” for Aerosmith).. or Linda Perry from 4 non-blondes..
Pop culture Whore, apparently you know as much as she knows about the business – what CRAP you can make to sell to idiots. And no, not the most successful “of all time” – that’s an exaggeration that’s barely worth acknowledging. Whore, you were apparently dropped quite a bit as a baby.
I don’t think Kara is the reason the rating dropped. People like to watch people they hate (I can’t figure out how else the Jersey Shore and the Hills could be so popular??), but what they don’t want to watch, is dullness. But that’s what Idol has been the last few seasons. Add to that, that the teen text vote causes the good singers to go home early and makes a single vote almost meaningless, and I think you’ve got your problem.
If they had talented singers who could hold my attention, I’d watch. I think they’re having problems finding compelling contestants.
What do you mean–Ksra doesn’t know anything about the music industry. She is a very successful song writer and wrote two of Adam Lambert’s songs on his hit album–Strut and If I had You!
I now understand why I think If I Had You is over the top and cheesy.
The lyrics of all her songs are the same: bilge, filth, and cheesy genericness that mean absolutely nothing.
I won’t watch another season with Kara either. Enough already. And btw she didn’t just “get lucky” in music business; she has a rich daddy congressman, that’s her “formula for success” and nothing about lack OR talent, which she doesn’t have.
I agree with Michael that Kara turned herself around and was actually a decent judge. I could have done without all that “cougar” business and her draping herself over Simon throughout the season, however. That said, Randy needs to go over Kara. I know he has another year on his contract, so he’ll probably be back, but the show wouldn’t miss him at all.
Agreed. He has been, from day one, useless. Paula may not yet have mastered the English language but I found her critiques, even on her worst nights, to be more credible than his. He needs to go.
Now more than ever Kara is a NECESSITY to continue this show. Without her credibility and ACTUAL commentary on the music side of the business we will just have two judges that can’t formulate sentences (Tyler and Jackson) and then the wild card of JLO.
Randy is not the veteran judge that we need. I cannot believe I am actually typing this but this show really needs Paula back. She was a goofball and spacey but in between all the nonsensical comments were some good ones. And she could be harsh when necessary. Honestly, it does not matter either way as I have already checked out.
JLo will do Paula’s job admirably.
Paula harsh?!? Paula said something meaningful?!? LOL Paula was the most worthless member of the judging panel, especially since No one could understand her drug-induced ramblings. Paula tried to make the show about her disagreements with Simon. American Idol is NOT about the judges.
Anytime the show’s ratings dropped, like last season, it had to do with the Quality of the Contestants, not who was on the judging panel. The ratings also took a dive the season Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis were the final two.
Please replace Randy now! Kara actually offers concrete advice more often than not. Well when she’s not in cougar mode and practically sitting in Simon’s lap. Randy hasn’t brought much to the table since season 1 or 2, if that. You dawg, you did your thang, but for me, for you it just didn’t work. Buh bye.
All of these comments about Kara sitting on Simon’s lap are just lame and retarded. Go back and watch last season again – especially the early part of the season and you will see that Kara is sitting right in front of her microphone and Simon was the one that was sitting close to her.
You are so right! I made that comment several times that it was Simon who was doing the crowding and draping himself over her shoulder.
AI is becoming way too predictable and it’s time for a Judge’s shake up.
Please get rid of Randy, continuously predictable, the producers realized Ellen did not do anything that Paula did. Kara rattles and rattles.
Last season was a disaster, the Judges were very confusing and were not critical and it was made known week after week. The contestants themselves were confused and they were right there.
It is time for a good over-haul and it should start by getting rid of Randy and Kara. Whether Ellen opted to leave on her own accord or was fired, this is a step in the right direction. With Simon’s X Factor due out in 2011, AI needs to get back on track or be blown out of the water!
Can’t wait for XFactor. AI is Dead.
AGREE
AI still number 1 show in America is that’s what you mean by dead!
Jeanne, your butt stinks.
I agree that sometimes Kara doesn’t know when to shut up, but she does offer helpful, honest, and knowing critiques most of the time. While I like Randy, he has been pretty worthless the past several seasons. And while I LOVE Ellen on her own show, I do not think she was a very good addition to the show. I’m not sure that American Idol is salvageable at this point, but I may just give it one more season. We shall she…
I’m all for Kara over Randy. Like her or not, at least she offers something…Randy’s comments are flat and offer nothing.
Well, shoot, it looks like I am the only person out here who likes Randy? I think we need at least one judge who has been there from the beginning to keep the show grounded. Randy is cool, he might not make rocket science statements, but he doesn’t annoy me and Kara is like fingernails on a blackboard for me.
Nothing says “cool” like those sweaters.
….and saying crap like ‘Yo, Dawg”
I’m totally with you, Missy. Randy doesn’t bother me at all, but Kara – please, I can NOT STAND her never ending ramblings! Even when I agree with her, she annoys the he11 out of me! I also have a feeling that Randy would be missed just like Paula. When she was around, everybody criticized her, but when she left-people missed her.
I honestly think getting rid of both Randy and Kara would be a big improvement on the show. Randy has never given one useful critique and Kara is pointless. The show is pretty much on its last legs.
I like Kara, but they need to start from scratch. She’s rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, so she’s going to continue to polarize viewers. It’s unfortunate, but… Please get rid of Randy. He’s unbearably pointless.
No, despite Kara’s musical knowledge she has a grating personality, you don’t have to be a musical genius to tell if someone uses their voice in a pleasing and selling way!
No, you’re right, you don’t have to be a musical genious.
But you sure as hell need to have strong musical knowledge and preferably have experience as a musician or singer. Everyone hypes up Simon so much for hit wit and biting remarks, but the last few seasons, he really slipped and gave critiques that were completely pre-ordained based on his personal feelings towards the contestants and didn’t really judge based on the performance. Kara is an underrated asset. Not only is she big as a song-writer/hit-maker and a producer, she is a former singer. And people who sing for a living and have experience singing behind a live mic are always needed. As evidenced by Ellen. It’s not just about who sings in a pleasing and selling way. Those qualities are subjective, as different people find different types of singing pleasing. I found Lee’s singing incredibly grating, and while all of the judges overpraised him, at least Kara called him out when he was out of tune, dropping verses, or over-shouting the song. Ellen would say, “You may have been pitchy, but I don’t care…I love you…You’re so current.” YOU CAN’T JUST THROW ANY FAN OF MUSIC ON THAT PANEL. YOU NEED SOMEONE WHO IS ARTICULATE, HONEST, AND POSSESSES A GOOD EAR! If they keep that boneheaded bafoon, Randy, over Kara, it would be more detrimental to the show than Simon leaving the panel.
EVERYTHING Randy says is completely pointless!!!! Dump him!!!!!
1000% correct !
I like having Kara on the panel. I find Randy useless and have never understood why there is so much Kara hatred out there.