AMERICAN IDOL - DIOGUARDI 'ECSTATIC' OVER DEGENERES APPOINTMENT

DIOGUARDI 'ECSTATIC' OVER DEGENERES APPOINTMENT

AMERICAN IDOL judge KARA DIOGUARDI has reached out to her newly appointed fellow judge ELLEN DEGENERES - because she knows how "hellish" it is to be the show's "new kid".
DeGeneres was announced as the surprise replacement for Paula Abdul on Wednesday (09Sep09), after signing a five-year deal with the show's producers.
And although singer/songwriter DioGuardi - who joined the panel last year (08) - can't wait to work with the beloved comic, she insists it can be tough at first.
She says, "I'm a huge Ellen DeGeneres fan, I think she's going to bring so much to the show. She's somebody who loves music, she's positive, she loves kids... she is somebody who has watched the show from the beginning, knows everything there is to know about American Idol and I think ultimately it's going to be a great new energy.
"It (joining the show) was pretty hellish. I got slagged... it was difficult for them to accept the change. It was difficult for them to understand why somebody who nobody had ever heard of could kind of come out of nowhere and sit next to these iconic figures."
Abdul has also given her blessing to her replacement: "Ellen DeGeneres is wildly funny and talented in her own right. I wish her and the show only the best of luck.”