Kara DioGuardi - Judge

[Harmony2000]

You know, I don't understand why this song is so horrible. Anybody watch Rockstar? Remember Suzie McNeil? Well she put a record out in 2007 called Broken & Beautiful and credits Kara for writing most of the songs on it for her (along with a Marti Frederiksen). The songs on this CD are really good. If she could do that? Then why did she co-write something that was so horrible as No Boundaries? I wonder what went on behind the scenes with the other two writers. Not defending her, at all, but her body of work is better than this song.

[FireWoman]

You know, I don't understand why this song is so horrible. Anybody watch Rockstar? Remember Suzie McNeil? Well she put a record out in 2007 called Broken & Beautiful and credits Kara for writing most of the songs on it for her (along with a Marti Frederiksen). The songs on this CD are really good. If she could do that? Then why did she co-write something that was so horrible as No Boundaries? I wonder what went on behind the scenes with the other two writers. Not defending her, at all, but her body or work is better than this song.

I agree, she also co-wrote Sober with Pink, and thats a hell of a song.

[Jexter]

I think the song wasn't that bad. It wasn't right for the big idol stage - not even for Adam.

And, it's melody needs a little bit of tweaking.

I haven't been a huge KG fan, but count me in as one of those who loved that she dissed bikini girl. I heard in an interview, BG was pretty upset, but she deserved it. In the same interview, it was said that the audience was actually booing her when Ryan said she could sing.

It's not a swimsuit competition.

[I'm MEL]

I actually enjoyed "No Boundaries" when Kris sang it during the finale. It didn't do either guy any favors Tuesday night, but they must've tweaked something, because I thought it sounded great Wednesday and have now been humming it for 2 days.

And Kara definitely earned her way back next year with that Bikini Girl incident! We all feel vindicated now.

[BobDobolina]

The one thing that surprised me this season is the backlash towards Kara. I thought she was outstanding. She was well-spoken and had meaningful things to say. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise she's the one judge with significant first-hand experience with song-writing, producing and singing. And unlike the other three, she seemed more balanced, capable of both positive and negative reactions. The one criticism I'd have of her was she tended to speak in hyperbole when she was positive about something.

Quite frankly, Paula and Randy are two of the three worst judges in any idol show. (The third being Marcia Hines.) They hardly ever have anything meaningful to say. Randy is literally a content-free judge. I don't think he ever says anything the least bit meaningful. And nobody puts an ounce of weight in Paula's words because she's always positive... and usually high. For my money, I'd drop both Paula and Randy, and add a new judge as number three, preferably someone really funny.

[Jexter]

The one thing that surprised me this season is the backlash towards Kara. I thought she was outstanding. She was well-spoken and had meaningful things to say. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise she's the one judge with significant first-hand experience with song-writing, producing and singing. And unlike the other three, she seemed more balanced, capable of both positive and negative reactions. The one criticism I'd have of her was she tended to speak in hyperbole when she was positive about something.

Quite frankly, Paula and Randy are two of the three worst judges in any idol show. (The third being Marcia Hines.) They hardly ever have anything meaningful to say. Randy is literally a content-free judge. I don't think he ever says anything the least bit meaningful. And nobody puts an ounce of weight in Paula's words because she's always positive... and usually high. For my money, I'd drop both Paula and Randy, and add a new judge as number three, preferably someone really funny.

Funny how people see things so differently.

For my money, Randy and Paula are the best judges. Simon is the one who has nothing to say. R&P give pointers about the arrangement, the delivery, and so on. All Simon ever says is it sounded like a cat falling from a window. Not that he's wrong, it's just not that helpful. I would trust R&P over any of them. Each has been extremely successful from a production standpoint and they know what they are talking about.

I do think Kara gave good advice. She needed help with her delivery in the AI setting, but overall, I tended to agree with MOST (not all) of what she had to say. There is something about her delivery that is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me, though.

If she be a little more controlled in how she delivers her comments, she might be better.

[BobDobolina]

Simon is the one who has nothing to say. R&P give pointers about the arrangement, the delivery, and so on. All Simon ever says is it sounded like a cat falling from a window. Not that he's wrong, it's just not that helpful.

Actually, I agree with you about Simon. I think he gives very shallow feedback. I didn't mention his shortcoming because, at this point, he's so iconic that I don't think the show could survive without him. The reason I think people seem to like him so much is that viewers who watch competition shows are naturally hypercritical and want judgments that match their criticisms. Since he is so frequently negative, his opinions are the more likely to match up with something critical that a viewer identifies. In general, the more negative a judge is, the more people in the audience agree with something he said and the more people find him insightful.

To be honest, I didn't realize how bad our judges were until I saw Canadian and Australian idol. Outside of one particular judge (Marcia Holden), their judges are an order of magnitude better than ours. They seem to always have something interesting, new and constructive to say without endless harping about pitchiness, being affected or whatever other characteristic our judges decide to obsess about in a particular season.

Speaking of which, Australian idol had a very interesting judge leave after their 5th season who's probably available. His name was Mark Holden, I believe. He had this cool thing where he awarded a "touchdown" to any performance that he deemed insanely good, i.e. the rare stuff that might get a unanimous standing ovation from our judges. At first, it was just a random comment, but it eventually turned into a formalized aspect of the show. He only did this for a couple of the best performances every year. When they happened, they'd play fireworks on the screens, and the audience and contestants would go nuts, sometimes even crying! It was kinda cheesy, but it actually added a cool dynamic, especially when the audience started stomping and chanting "touchdown" after a performance. So, if you're listing AI producers, group him with Kara and Simon and AI 9 could have a pretty decent, re-energized panel!

[bbnbama]

I actually liked the addition of Kara to the judging panel...I didn't like the fact that it ran the show over alot but some of that could be contributed to Paula/Simon nonsense.

And Kara went waaaay up in my book with her finale "battle" with Bikini Girl...a priceless moment in my book!

[CdnINXSFan]

I think No Boundaries is a much better song that it sounded like it was going to be during the final performance show. Both Kris and Adam blew it somehow on the show and they both sing it better in their singles and (in Kris' case) when he's sung it since.

Given Adam and Kris' defence of Kara during the Larry King interview, I think they weren't faking their liking of the song as much as we thought they were.

Kris has also mentioned that there are very specific things that they have to put into a coronation song. I have a feeling the mountains and higher and deeper stuff is essential for it to be considered for the final song.

[TopCatDC]

Congratulations to Kara who was married over the holiday weekend in Maine. In Touch magazine has details and a photo.

American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi wed teacher-turned-general contractor Mike McCuddy on July 5 at 12:30 in the afternoon in Prospect Harbor, Maine. The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter wore a Vera Wang gown for the small ceremony. The couple, who met when Mike, 34, built the house next to Kara’s in Maine, got engaged in December. They exchanged vows at the United Methodist Church, across the street from her house, in front of about 30 guests

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