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We’ve had two full weeks of our newest judge on American Idol, Kara DioGuardi, known in some circles as simply “the new girl” or “the fourth judge.” Seeing her make a newbie faux pas last night, it made me start to consider how she is doing so far in the two key areas.

Congeniality (aka, putting up with Simon) First we have to realize that we aren’t seeing the auditions in the order they occurred. So far we’ve seen Phoenix, Kansas City, San Francisco, and Louisville, but the actual order of the auditions the way they occurred were San Francisco, Louisville, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Juan, Kansas City, Jacksonville, East Rutherford, and New Jersey. Things seemed a little disjointed in San Francisco, and that would make sense, as that was their first audition city, and Louisville was directly after.

We can’t judge by that then, and maybe a truer case of how everyone is getting along would be last week’s auditions of Kansas City and Phoenix that occurred third and sixth. While many expected to have cat fights between Kara and Paula Abdul, there really doesn’t seem to be animosity, and they seem quite comfortable with each other, even siding the same way on most occasions. Randy Jackson always seems to get along with everyone, so it would be odd if she didn’t get along with him. As for Simon Cowell, he seems to have the same playfulness with her that he has with Paula. I think he was the guy that liked to put tacks on girls’ chairs.

Knowledge (aka comments that fall away from “yo dawg”) Kara definitely seems to know her stuff when it comes to the music industry, yet has a different area of strengths to play into the set that already exists. We already have the producer, record company executive, and artist, and now we have a writer to add to the mix as well, expanding that dynamic.

Whereas Randy, Paula, and Simon know people in the record biz from their place in the music business, Kara seems to as well. Last night she knew one of the girls auditioning, recognizing her as having a record deal earlier on A&M. She was able to connect with her in ways the other three judges wouldn’t have been able to, and in addition knew the performer they were dealing with and what she was capable of. We might not get a true sense of her knowledge, though, until further into the performing rounds.

Judgements (aka does she tell people they belong on a cruise ship, call them dawg, or make no sense) Kara seems to fall in the middle of all of these. She doesn’t hide and laugh behind a piece of paper, and more often than not she’s staring blankly at an auditioner in disbelief like Simon. If she’s enjoying it, though, she’s grooving right along like Paula.

Kara seems to be offering up comments that are generally constructive, what Simon thinks he’s doing, even though he comes off as too harsh sometimes. Those that have been through the process with her have been saying she’s tough, though. She doesn’t seem to be pulled emotionally as much as Paula, yet she’s still human.

There was one Freshman faux pas last night, and since it happened in Louisville, we know it was only into Kara’s second audition city. As one girl was auditioning somewhat badly, Kara glanced down at her notes, and seeing that she won a humor award in high school, Kara assumed it was all a joke and called her out on it, hurting this girl’s feelings terribly. Of course you have to wonder why production chose to highlight that bit of info. Each contestant walks into the auditions with a packet of info gathered from the producers in the first rounds, and you have to wonder why they highlighted that line. She probably is a funny girl, but not during this.

Again, as the season goes on, we’ll learn more about how this new dynamic will work out, how Kara will actually be when critiquing live performances from the show, but all indications are that she’ll do well, offering up criticism without blasting people, but still making sense. Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m not encouraging any of the other three to depart. I think we’ve just added to what was already a good dynamic. Each of the three judges with more tenure, plays a certain part, and from the looks of it, Kara DioGuardi will as well.

Photo courtesy of Fox

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For more information on American Idol, see SirLinksalot: American Idol and American Idol Headlines.

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