Kara DioGuardi Officially Leaves “American Idol”

You could shoot a reality show about the judges of American Idol! CNN reports that songwriter Kara DioGuardi is stepping down from her role as judge after just two years on the show.

“I felt like I won the lottery when I joined ‘American Idol’ two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave Idol,” DioGuardi was quoted as saying in a statement from Fox on Friday. “I am very proud to have been associated with American Idol – it has truly been an amazing experience.”

Fox did not say why Kara was leaving, which makes me wonder if she simply got the ax. Fellow judge Ellen Degeneres also recently announced she was leaving the show after just a year, and stuffy Brit Simon Cowell left to work on his new show, an American adaptation of The X-Factor, which is basically the same thing as American Idol. The show has already run into its first scandal, with X-Factor being accused of using autotuning technology to fix singers’ intonation problems.

Will American Idol survive a few more seasons? Personally I think it’s time for America to move on, but Fox is powering ahead with new judges. TMZ reports that Jennifer Lopez’ deal is “imminent.”