Here comes the judge

Chris Serico • The Journal News • Sept. 13, 2008 • Photo: Michael Becker/Fox

Kara DioGuardi’s father remembers when she was just a 12-year-old from New Rochelle, singing at Manhattan’s Waldolf-Astoria hotel in front of 1,000 people for a Columbus Day event, whose grand marshal was actress Sophia Loren.

“She brought the house down,” said Joe DioGuardi, a former Republican Congressman who now lives in Ossining. “Sophia ran up to her and I said, ‘Sophia, can I take this picture?’ And they both looked at me with two of the greatest smiles you could find.”

That ovation, he said, gave his daughter the confidence to perform in front of large crowds, a skill the Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer will need in a different way as the newest judge on TV’s top-rated “American Idol.”

“I never thought I would get the gig, to be honest with you,” Kara DioGuardi, 37, said in a recent interview. “I just thought I’d go on the interview, it would be like a three-minute thing and they’d be like, ‘Nice to see you; keep writing songs for us.’”

Having written and co-written tunes for a small army of pop artists - including “Idol” alumni Kelly Clarkson, David Cook, David Archuleta and Katharine McPhee - DioGuardi is now the show’s newest arbiter of singing talent.

“I was in the studio; I remember, because I almost fell off my chair,” she said.

Decades before joining Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell at the “Idol” judges’ table, Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi was a student at the Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Scarsdale and a graduate of The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry. She embraced performing at a young age, frequently performing at venues like the Larchmont Shore Club and her father’s campaign stops throughout Westchester County.

When she wasn’t on the mic, some of her fondest childhood memories involved playing in a pond across the street from her family’s house in the Wilmot Woods section of New Rochelle.

A political science major at Duke University, her intention to become a prosecuting attorney wavered in her junior year, when she realized her heart wasn’t in it.

“I’d always heard melodies in my head, I’d always loved the theatre and I’d loved the arts, but I just didn’t know how to do that,” she said. “I didn’t know how to break in.”

She returned to Westchester and sang with an Ossining garage band called Gramma Trips, which gigged at local coffee shops and the occasional festival in front of the Kensico Dam in Valhalla.

“(I) announced to my parents that I wanted to be a singer and they were not happy,” she said. “They were like, ‘Whoa. We just spent all this money and now you’re going to be a singer? Excellent. And a waitress? Lovely.’”

Joe DioGuardi recalled the advice he gave his daughter: “You know what you do? You find the place that will help you to learn … tell them you’ll work for them for nothing. They’re probably going to pay you something. But just do it.”

In 1993, she began a five-year stint working at Billboard magazine, where her duties ranged from personal assistant to sales representative. She said she left when she was signed to a record deal. Although her singing career never took off, she became more comfortable as an artist and working as a songwriter and producer.

Mentored in the beginning by music executive and former Bedford resident Tommy Mottola, she collaborated with pop star after pop star. Some of her songs to crack the Top 40 were Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man,” Clarkson’s “Walk Away” and Dion’s “Taking Chances,” which Joe DioGuardi said was inspired by his daughter’s decision to abandon law - after she graduated - and pursue her dreams.

In 2006, she was named Broadcast Music, Inc.’s Pop Songwriter of the Year.

DioGuardi’s new gig appears to be the first change in a transitional year for “Idol,” which experienced a ratings decline, a credibility controversy involving Abdul and the departure of executive producer Nigel Lythgoe.

The new judge said one change she hopes to see in the show’s eighth season would come from the contestants.

“I’m hoping more kids come on and they do their thing with an instrument,” she said. “I really think it creates a much better package - that you can play, that you can sing. I think people who play are more in touch with who they are as an artist.”

DioGuardi needed only one sentence to describe “Idol’s” most redeeming quality, which appears to apply to judges as well as contestants: “It gives people a chance to really accomplish their dream.”

10 questions for Kara

1. What recent song do you most wish you’d written?

“Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé.

2. As a singer, how far do you think you would advance on “American Idol”?

I would hope to the top 10.

3. How long have you been watching “Idol”?

Since the beginning.

4. You’d said that you thought “Idol” would have hired someone more famous to fill the fourth judge’s chair. Had you heard of any famous names who were being considered?

They kind of kept me in the dark. I hadn’t really heard anything.

5. Who was the most famous person outside of the show to congratulate you for the “Idol” hire?

Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics).

6. From the first seven seasons, who would you say have been your three favorite “Idol” alumni?

I’d say Kelly Clarkson, (Chris) Daughtry and, hmm, I like Katharine McPhee.

7. Who’s the most underrated “Idol” contestant of all time?

Katharine McPhee.

8. What’s your favorite “Idol” performance so far?

I thought that ‘Billie Jean’ performance that David Cook did was ridiculous (in the good way).

9. The perception among fans is that Simon Cowell’s the bad cop, Paula Abdul’s the good cop and Randy Jackson’s somewhere in between. With which judge have you sided the most through the years?

Probably Simon. Sometimes he can be hard, but I also think at times he’s doing people a favor.

10. For your first day judging “Idol” contestants, you sat between Randy and Paula at the judges’ table. Where would you want to sit?

You know at this point, I’m pretty much just like, ‘Where do you want me?’ I’m the new kid in school. I’m not going to cause waves right from the beginning.