Newly selected American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi

Newly selected American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi
may have met America’s most famous judges a few days ago
but her colleagues say she is already part of the family.

“It’s already a big happy family,”
Abdul said Tuesday at the American Idol season 8 auditions held in New York.
 “We are so happy to have her.”

In fact, DioGuardi has already had quality bonding time with all three judges,
says Simon Cowell.
“We had a picnic last night. I wore jammies and the girls wore negligees
and we kind of broke the ice,”
Cowell joked.
“We had cake until two in the morning.”

Only the future will tell if adding a fourth judge will help boost the show’s sagging ratings,
but Abdul likes the change in the group dynamic.
“We can try to gang up against the guys,”
said Abdul.
“I know Kara well and she speaks her mind.”

In fact the pop singer knows DioGuardi very well–the two were once roommates in the late ’90s.
“She quit her job and moved out to L.A. and she lived with me for a while,”
Abdul told PEOPLE of her old friend. “We had a great time. She’s a great girl.”


Kara DioGuardi

Kara DioGuardi is BMI's 2007 Pop Songwriter of the Year and a Grammy-nominated hitmaker.  
She has been awarded 9 BMI Pop Awards over the last 4 years
for having written the most performed songs on the radio.
One of the industry's most highly sought-after songwriters and producers,

DioGuardi's hits have appeared on more than 100 million records.
From her catalog of several hundred songs, over 250 have been released on major labels worldwide;
and over 80 have appeared on multi-platinum selling albums.  
In the past 3 years, she has had nearly 50 international charting singles and her songs
have helped propel over 38 albums into Billboard's Top Ten.  
Kara's songs are continuously featured in major motion pictures, television shows,
film soundtracks, and radio spots, as well as national and international commercial campaigns.