American Idol 11

American Idol Judge Kara DioGuardi was born December 9, 1970 in Ossining, New York. She is the daughter of Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, co-founder of the Albanian American Civic League, and former Republican Congressman Joseph J. DioGuardi. She grew up in New Rochelle, New York and attended high school at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. After she graduated, Kara attended Duke University where she enrolled in the opera program because of her love for music. Halfway through her education, Kara changed her major to pre-law to become a trial lawyer. She graduated in 1993 with a major in political science.

However, Kara DioGuardi’s true passion was music. A friend convinced her to apply for a job as the assistant to the editor-in-chief of Billboard magazine. This position gave her an inside look at the music industry and she began writing music. Kara DioGuardi spent her spare time trying to break into the music business as a singer and performer.

In 1998 things started looking up for DioGuardi when she ran into Paula Abdul on a street in New York City and gave her a demo of her work. Paula was impressed and flew Kara out to LosAngeles to work with her. She got her first break as a songwriter in 2000 when Kyle Minogue chose her song “Spinning Around” to be on her album. This catapulted her name into the music business and her career as one of the most sought after songwriters in the music industry was sealed. She has worked with hundreds of stars including the Jonas Brothers, Britney Spears, Faith Hill, Nick Lachey, Ashlee Simpson, and Christina Aguilera.

Kara DioGuardi has served as a judge on a couple of reality music shows before she was asked to appear as an American Idol Judge. Her first appearance was in 2006 on “The One: Making of a Music Star”. The show was short lived and canceled abruptly. She was chosen in 2009 to become a fourth judge for the hit TV show American Idol on Fox. Kara brings a balance to the judging panel by tempering her opinion with encouragement and she appears to be one of the favorite judges…

Kara DioGuardi started her own company with Stephen Finfer and called it Arthouse Entertainment. The company offers music related services like writing songs and obtaining the rights to those songs for companies desiring to use them in movies, commercials, etc. They also handle branding, original songs for film and television, as well as manage writers, producers, and other artists. Three years after the company’s inception, the business was ranked #7 on Billboard’s Top 10 National Music Publishers.

Songwriter DioGuardi has won many awards for her songwriting. In 2007, she won the Broadcast Music Industry (BMI) Pop Songwriter of the Year award, as well as the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada Award. Singer Kara has received more than 10 Pop Awards from BMI and is recognized for co-writing the more songs performed on the radio. Kara’s songs appear on more than 100 million records and more than 268 of them have been released on major labels. 168 of her songs have appeared on multi-platinum selling albums.

Rest assured that American Idol Judge Kara DioGuardi is more than just a pretty face. Kara DioGuardi is serious about music and her songwriting career. She is a force to be reckoned with!