‘Idol’s’ newest judge has to take criticism, too

As far as this season of "Idol" goes, DioGuardi said she is "very excited" about the remaining contestants.

Although she said "I do think that there's a solid front-runner," she wouldn't name that person. "My job is to judge what happens week to week," she said. "To [predict a winner] sort of kills the rest of the season for me. I want to see what people can deliver. You never know."

Still, she cited highlights, including Adam Lambert's "outrageous range" and Allison Iraheta, who "sings like she's an old soul." Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson have predicted that Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert will end up in the finals, but DioGuardi said that while that's "a really strong possibility," it depends upon their performances going forward and whether Iraheta, Kris Allen, and Matt Giraud "keep upping their game."

Contestants' performances often hang on their song choice, at least according to the judges. "The reality is, you're going to live or die by your song choice after this competition, and that's going to be really important," DioGuardi said. "There are some performers who can take on many different songs and still make it their own, and then there are some which we're seeing, I think this season, that can't."

But much like the contestants themselves, DioGuardi notes that the judges cannot be too thin-skinned about what's said about them, good or bad.

The judges' criticism of contestants for song choice or other things is important because it's "delivering news to people who are sitting there and being judged by the country, and we're probably swaying the vote," DioGuardi said. But she doesn't let comments about her own performance affect her job.

"At the end of the day, when I look [at criticism], this isn't the Kara show, this is the 'American Idol' show," she said. "It's my job to give the best advice I can, the best critique I can, and not let anybody saying negative things about me keep me from doing that, because the show is so much bigger than me."

Andy Dehnart is a writer, TV critic, and editor of reality blurred, and can be found on Facebook.

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