This week’s Billboard magazine features Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi on the cover and a lengthy interview inside.
Kara talks about her songwriting, A&R work and how she broke into the business. And of course, she discusses that little show called American Idol.
On this year’s crop of contestant’s:
I would say that there were more than a few times this season that someone walked in and sang and I was shocked that they didn’t have the appearance to have that voice. It was just kind of a “Whoa, where did that come from? Hold up.” It’s like Susan Boyle.
(Could the producers be looking for a less polished, less professional performer to win Idol this year? Perhaps TPTB are looking for their very own small-town church-mouse to be AI’s lightening-in-a-bottle?)
Kara admits that her first year was difficult–she didn’t begin feeling comfortable in front of the camera until the season was nearly over. Season 9 finds a more confident Kara able to “really engage and do more with the contestants and really concentrate on them.
Last season, says Kara, “they’d be speaking or singing and I would be, ‘Holy s–t. What am I going to say?'”
On American Idol as a means of finding new recording artists? She thinks it’s just fine, thank you.
And let’s be honest — traditional A&R (artists and repertoire, the division of a label that scouts for and develops performers) is not what it was, especially with the way the economy is. People are not going out into the middle of the country. This show is picking up where A&R from record labels is not being able to do it right now because they can’t hire the scouts. It’s able to go into a small town and find Carrie Underwood or to Arkansas where Kris (Allen) was from.
This is just a taste of the article. Read the entire interview right HERE.
