HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Kara DioGuardi will not be a one-year experiment.
The 38-year-old music pro is returning to "American Idol," the Fox series announced on Monday.
"We are so happy to welcome back Kara for her second season with Idol," the show's creator and executive producer, Simon Fuller, said in a statement. "She is a breath of fresh air, and her passion for music and her understanding of talent is invaluable. This show is all about discovering new talent, and Kara's championing of Adam Lambert is proof positive of her great instinct."
The singer-songwriter and record producer signed on for "Idol's" eighth season in 2008, where she took a seat next to Cowell and fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.
"Kara brings her own special style and sensibility to the show, which includes her innate talent to identify, nurture and direct a performer’s potential," said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. "We're very pleased with her contributions as the fourth judge on the panel."
The announcement is the second big piece of news this summer for DioGuardi, who married her longtime boyfriend, Mike McCuddy, last month in Prospect, Maine.
With DioGuardi back on board, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, the production companies behind the hit Fox singing competition, will most likely turn their attention to Abdul, who is still without a new contract. In an interview earlier this month with the Los Angeles Times, Abdul's manager, David Sonenberg, said he has yet to receive a proposal from either side despite the reality show's new season looming in January.
"Very sadly, it does not appear that she's going to be back on 'Idol,' " he told the paper of the stalled negotations. "I find it under these circumstances particularly unusual; I think unnecessarily hurtful. I find it kind of unconscionable and certainly rude and disrespectful that they haven't stepped up and said what they want to do."
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