Kara DioGuardi warms to the hot seat

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The “American Idol” personality is largely id-driven: The pleasures the talent show offers are immediate, whether a singer soars or sinks. And the show around the show can yield even more merriment, as it spews out a ceaseless stream of news/gossip generated by the contestants’ biographical details, the judges’ antics, behind-the-scenes backstabbing that may or may not be fictional and, often least important, discussion of the results of the actual singing competition.

But Kara DioGuardi -- who became the show’s fourth judge this season in the most visible manifestation of its much-hyped tweaks -- is all superego. And her weekly critiques, delivered live on Fox before an average audience of 26 million viewers, tend to weigh heavily on her mind.

“It wakes me up at night,” DioGuardi said the day after a performance show. “Can you imagine? Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and I thought, ‘I’ve got to look at those performances. Did I clock that one wrong? Why didn’t I say that? I could have been more supportive.’ ”

So as Season 8 draws to a close Wednesday, the question rises: Will the union of DioGuardi, the thriving songwriter, and “American Idol,” the only massively popular television show, last?

Read more Kara DioGuardi warms to the hot seat

Click here to hear Kara sing.

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)