Kara DioGuardi leaving ‘American Idol’

Fox announced Friday what media reports have speculated for weeks: Kara DioGuardi is leaving “American Idol.”

“I felt like I won the lottery when I joined ‘American Idol’ two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave ‘Idol,” DioGuardi said in a statement. “I am very proud to have been associated with ‘American Idol’ – it has truly been an amazing experience … I look forward to my next challenge, and want to thank everyone who has supported me. All the best to everyone on Season 10!”

The news comes amid reports that Fox has secured singer Jennifer Lopez as a new judge. Though Fox has yet to announce the upcoming tenth season’s judging panel, it’s presumed to be Lopez, Areosmith rocker Steven Tyler and veteran “Idol” judge Randy Jackson.

 

Another question has been whether Fox will stick with employing four judges or revert back to three. With DioGuardi’s exit, a trio of judges seems more likely.

Fox released a flurry of statements praising DioGuardi, who was a judge on the show for two seasons. Her exit marks the third “Idol” judge to leave the show this year, following Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres.

Though DioGuardi’s statement hints the move was her choice, the singer’s exit is the result of the network and producers shaking up the judging panel in the wake of Cowell’s departure.

“Kara was a great addition to our ‘Idol’ family,” said Fox’s alternative president Mike Darnell. “I’ve been fortunate to get to know her well, and have always been amazed by her eye for talent and her commitment to developing and mentoring artists. She will be missed, and we wish her continued success.”

“Kara is one of the world’s best songwriters,” said ‘Idol’ creator and executive producer Simon Fuller. “She has been passionate and committed to ‘Idol’ over the last two seasons. I will miss having her on the show, but I look forward to working with her in music for many years to come.”

“As one of the most proclaimed songwriters in the U.S., Kara brought a wealth of experience and a unique perspective to ‘American Idol,’” said Cecile Frot-Coutaz, ‘Idol’ executive producer. “We are very grateful for the time she spent on the show, and we wish her nothing but the best in all her future endeavors.”

“Anyone who knows Kara knows that she brings an unbelievable amount of passion, creativity and humility to everything she does,” added ‘Idol’ executive producer Ken Warwick. “It has been a joy working with her on ‘Idol’ for the past two seasons, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.”

[GALLERY] MTV Movie Awards 2010

DFN’s got you covered for this years MTV Movie Awards…. Check out our Awards Gallery…

 

PHOTOS

PERFORMANCES | GROUPS  |  MALE  |  FEMALE  |  PRESS ROOM |  STAGE 

Jennifer Lopez Headed To ‘How I Met Your Mother’

Jennifer Lopez – get ready to meet your “Mother.”

J.Lo will guest star in an upcoming episode of CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother,” the network announced on Wednesday.

The singer-actress will play Anita Appleby, a no-nonsense author of self-help books that teach women how to mold the perfect man through the power of denial.

But Anita appears to meet her match when she makes it her mission to “break” Barney (Neil Patrick Harris).

“We couldn’t be more excited about Jennifer Lopez joining us on ‘How I Met Your Mother,’” said series executive producer and co-creator Carter Bays. “We’re looking forward to a week of revealing outfits and sexy dance moves the likes of which this show hasn’t seen since Regis Philbin guest starred.”

The episode is scheduled to air in March.

It’s the latest TV gig for J.Lo, who took over the monologue on George Lopez’s “Lopez Tonight” earlier this month.

However, she isn’t the first songstress to grace the “HIMYM” set – fellow diva Carrie Underwood recently taped her own cameo, which is set to air on March 1.

In other “HIMYM” news, CBS announced on Tuesday the series – which also stars Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan – had been picked up for a sixth season to air in the fall.

JLo to Guest Star on Glee

On the upcoming second half of Glee’s first season, you might recognize the cafeteria lady!

According to the New York Daily News, Jennifer Lopez may guest star on the musical TV show: “I have a meeting with Jennifer Lopez in a couple weeks. She wants to come on. We want her to be a cafeteria lady.” said Glee creator Ryan Murphy at the Golden Globes after the show won for best TV comedy.

Glee’s powers that be are also trying to get Madonna to guest star on the show. Lea Michele, who plays Rachel, is rooting to get Justin Timberlake aboard. That means that fans around the globe can start praying hard to see all those amazing stars guest-starring on the most popular tv show of the moment!

Visit our GLEE forum for more news on GLEE.

Jennifer Lopez New Year’s Eve Outfit: Sexy or Sucky?

There was a time when Jennifer Lopez was an A-list star that sat atop the music and beauty charts.

Her style was second to none, highlighted by her iconic dress at the 2005 Grammy Awards.

But those days are long gone, as evidenced by J. Lo’s performance in New York City last night. The singer tried to go all sexy with a skintight, bejeweled bodysuit during her rendition of “Louboutins.”

Did she succeed or did she fail? Yout tell us…

AMA Award’s Show-Stopping Moments!!!

Adam Lambert’s show-stopping performance at the 2009 American Music Awards shocked the crowd – and not because of his trademark rock ‘n’ roll wail.

The star brought some bedroom moves to the stage during his performance of “For Your Entertainment,” the first single from his album of the same name – dragging a female backup dancer by the leg, simulating fellatio with a male dancer and kissing an androgynous male keyboardist. Adam noted to Rolling Stone after the performance that the lucky keyboardist was straight.

The racy performance may have been too much for ABC – during some portions of the performance, the camera cut away from Adam’s moves during the East Coast broadcast.

The AMAs were a show full of wild moments, including Lady Gaga performing with a flaming piano after smashing a mirror and then later smashing liquor bottles onto it. Amongst the other unexpected moments were on-stage stumbles by Jennifer Lopez during her performance of new single “Louboutins,” where she momentarily fell before picking herself back up and launching back into the performance.

Jennifer Lopez goes West Side Story

J.Lo admits being a huge fan of the musical/movie and has already watched it 37 times! She was specially attracted to Rita Moreno’s character in the movie, Anita: “I never wanted to be that wimpy Maria, who sits around pining for her guy. I wanted to be Anita, who danced her way to the top.”

Well, your wish, our luck, J. Lo!

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