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Fox was close to firing the brand new Judge Kara DioGuardi before she even made it to air according to National Enquirer.

FOX execs felt the singer/songwriter/producer came off so “stiff and wooden” during auditions that they seriously considered firing her, an insider told The ENQUIRER.”They said Kara was terrible and amateurish,” the insider revealed. “They wanted to replace her.”

But to save the embarrassment of admitting a bad hire, the execs decided to give Kara another chance - and now she’s finally showing improvement.

FOX has hired speaking and talent coaches to work with Kara, says the source.

But it’s ultimately up to Kara to “get it together.”

 ”If she doesn’t, FOX will then have no other choice but to fire her,” the insider revealed.

I don’t know, but looking at those pictures of her you could tell she wasn’t going to add anything to American Idol. Guess I wasn’t the only one who thought so. I personally don’t think they need a fourth job, but what do I know I am just the person watching the show.

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Jennifer Hudson and boyfriend, David Otunga, have gotten engaged, her rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“I can confirm that Jennifer got engaged to her boyfriend David on Friday night in L.A.” says the rep.

Otunga, who is known as “Punk” from the reality show I Love New York 2, popped the question with a Neil Lane diamond ring on the Dreamgirls Oscar winner’s 27th birthday.

The couple, who have been dating less than a year, both hail from Chicago.

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The decision to bring Kara DioGuardi onboard the crazy train that is “American Idol” has, for the most part, been one met with support. That said, the reasoning behind adding a fourth judge might be slightly more complex than we’ve be lead to believe.

“They want another female in case Paula misses a taping,” a source close to the show told OK! magazine.

Another “Idol” source confirms that Abdul’s attendance last season was a source of extreme consternation.

“There were so many times they had to cover for Paula during the live shows. She’d just be totally MIA,” says a source who worked closely with Abdul. “We’d joke that the lady’s a flight risk. But really, she loves what she does. She wouldn’t just totally disappear. She’d come back — just maybe not in time for live television.”

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American Idol is adding a fourth judge: Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

DioGuardi will appear at the judges’ table with Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson on the eighth season of the hit show, which premieres in January.

“We are turning the heat up on Idol this year and are thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges’ table,” show creator and executive producer Simon Fuller said in a statement.

DioGuardi’s songs have appeared on more than 100 million records by the likes of Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Pink, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.

The songwriter’s work has also been used by past Idol contestants, including Katharine McPhee, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice, and Clay Aiken.

“She is a smart, sassy lady, and one of America’s most successful songwriters. We know she will bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show,” Fuller added.

American Idol was originally slated to have four judges, executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz said in the statement announcing the news.

“We’ve seen from our international series that having a fourth judge creates a dynamic that benefits both the contestants and the viewers,” she explained.

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Clay Aiken became a daddy today, according to what his mom, the proud grandmother told WRAL.

Aiken’s best friend, producer Jaymes Foster, gave birth at 8:08 a.m. at an undisclosed location in North Carolina.

Parker Foster Aiken weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 inches long.

Aiken’s mother, Faye, said the baby has dark hair and that her son is smiling from ear-to-ear.

Say what you want about Clay Aiken, he is going to be one amazing dad!

Here is scary fact Clay Aiken’s son was born on 08/08/08 at 08:08, that is so weird and spooky.  They should have named him Eight instead of Parker. 

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Look, I hate waking up. I hate it even more so when it is anywhere in the 6-7am range. However last April I was fully prepared to do so when Paula Abdul was going to perform on The Today Show. It was going to be on a Friday so my plan was to find a few other like minded individuals and just hide down in the basement all night on Thursday and just push through until the dawn and Paula’s performance. It was going to be great and I even was going to spring for Busch.Then she canceled due to some kind of scheduling issues. What the hell does she do even when Idol is filming? Nothing at all. Don’t let her fool you with some kind of scheduling crap, she doesn’t do jack crap. But, she used the lie, and so it was rescheduled for August. Yep, it’s August right now. So, where the hell is Paula and her performance? Canceled due to her busy schedule.

Ummm. Yeah. Why doesn’t she just come out and say it. Just tell the world she can’t sing, and that her last single was not even close to her voice and that she will look like the worst singer ever if she tries to get on stage and sing at 7am in front of a live audience with some iffy sound equipment.

When she does this kind of thing it just makes the rest of the world want to go back and look at what she did 20 years ago and examine those recordings just a bit more. I mean those records were done at the time of Milli Vanilli, Vanilla Ice and Chocolate, Chocolate. There really isn’t such a group, but there was too much vanilla and not enough chocolate so, had to counter that.

Paula should just focus on sipping her gin and juice and not doing anything dumb while American Idol continues to numb all of us. Give it a few more years and then when the show has run its course, Paula can trot every now and then just so we know she is alive and has the funds necessary to buy and maintain new wigs. We as the public don’t really need much more than that. Yes, it would have been nice to see her make a fool of herself on national television, but that would have only been fun for the first fifty or sixty viewings. After that I would have felt sad. Don’t need to ruin the illusion that was Paula.

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Paula Abdul

Singing star and American Idol Judge Paula Abdul walks down Hollywood Blvd on her way to the World Premiere of Swing Vote in Hollywood, California. Paula’s outfit looks great.

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America’s Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff got off to a rousing start of his second job, scaring tourists on London’s South Bank. Hasseloff explained that he really isn’t scaring the tourists as much as offering them a pleasant surprise and the opportunity to have their picture taken with a celebrity. Hasselhoff did admit that we were a rough patches in the beginning where he popped up from behind the embankment and there was nobody there. Hasselhoff felt a bit embarrassed, but he said that there’s a learning curve with every new venture. Hasselhoff opened to have all the kinks worked out by lunch time on Thursday.

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In the whatever happened to them category, Ruben Studdard, the season 2 winner of American Idol is getting married on Saturday. I couldn’t be happier unless Clay Aiken was one of the bridesmaids. Speaking of attendants, what is too many? Ruben has said that he is going to have 20 groomsmen. 20? That is a hell of a lot of gifts to buy for the wedding party, but I guess they make up for it on the back end in wedding gifts.

When you starting having more than 4 or 5, I think it starts to become almost a show of its own. When you have 20, the line will head all the way to the back of the church. Plus, if you have 20 groomsmen don’t you need 20 bridesmaids as well? Although I’m sure Clay would be willing to do some quick changes and be more than one bridesmaid, lets face it, that is a whole bunch of people. On a positive note, there probably won’t be any ugly fabrics left in the entire state of Alabama once 20 bridesmaids dresses are made.

When you have 40 people in your wedding party plus their significant others your rehearsal dinner must be pushing close to a 100 people. Hello Pizza Hut.

The most I have personally seen is about 10 for each. I remember it took forever for them to all walk down the aisle and there wasn’t enough room for all of them in the front so half had to sit in the front row of the church. Apparently there had been some knock out drag down fight the evening before when they rehearsed because no one could decide who would get to stand and who would get to sit and made the bride and groom choose. Half the people got their feelings hurt and this was just ten for each side. 20 must be outrageous. Congratulations Ruben.
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Second-season American Idol champ Ruben Studdard obtained a marriage license Monday in Alabama, PEOPLE has learned.

Studdard, 29, arrived at the Shelby County Probate Office in Birmingham with fiancée Surata Zuri McCants, 30, just before noon, filled out the paperwork and walked away with their license, an eyewitness says. Studdard is a Birmingham native.

“They looked really happy,” says the eyewitness.

There was no immediate word on when they planned to marry. An Alabama marriage license is valid for 30 days.

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Simon Cowell

American Idol’s Simon Fuller has married his girlfriend Natalie Swanston in a small ceremony in California. The television star exchanged vows with the interior designer on Friday evening as the sun set in the Napa Valley. The wedding were witnessed by 80 guests, including Spice Girls Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton, who dated Fuller in the late 1990s. Former Supermodel Claudia Schiffer and her director husband Matthew Vaughn were also in attendance. After the ceremony, the guests sat down to dinner served by exclusive restaurant The French Laundry, while DJ Samantha Ronson, Lindsay Lohan’s best buddy, spined the music. No expense was spared for the wedding. Fuller provided all his guests accommodation at the luxurious five-star hotel Auberge Du Soleil, with rooms costing $5,000 a night.

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Preparing for the American Idol finale means long hours and hard work. But days before David Cook was declared the season seven winner, he dropped everything to visit with fellow top 24 contestant Luke Menard in a Los Angeles hospital.

Menard, 29, was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“I love Luke and I just wanted to show up and make sure that he understood that I love him and know that if there’s anything I can do for him and his wife, sign me up, you know?” Cook tells PEOPLE. “Luke, Michael Johns, Jason Yeager and myself, we kind of buddy-ed up one day at Hollywood week,” Cook explains. “We called ourselves the four horsemen. Any time one of your own is going through something as horrible as that, it makes everything else seem a little bit insignificant.

“Cancer,” Cook says, “is a very big part of my existence.” Cook’s older brother Adam has been battling brain cancer for ten years. “I’m excited to be put in [the spotlight] where I can hopefully do something to help other people.”

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American Idol champ David Cook and season two alum Kimberly Caldwell are making sweet music together.

On Tuesday’s Live With Regis and Kelly, he revealed that they recently went on a date after meeting through the hit Fox show.

Asked if he had a good time, Cook, 25, said, “I did. We’ll probably hang out again. So we’ll see.”

Of Caldwell, 26, Cook told on Monday, “she seems like a really great girl,” adding that he hopes their friendship “will be a little bit of a long, drawn out process.”

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David Cook is American Idol 7!

Finishing off the seventh season of Fox’s reality hit, Missouri-native David Cook took home the title Wednesday night after beating out 17-year-old David Archuleta.

“I’m absolutely at a loss for words right now,” Cook said through tears. “This is amazing — thank you!”

Cook then performed ballad, “Time of My Life”

Over 97.5 million finale votes — an Idol record! — were cast to determine the winner. Ryan Seacrest announced that Cook won by 12 million votes.

Cook was fighting an uphill battle: after Tuesday night’s David vs. David three song showdown, Cowell declared Archuleta “a knock out.”

For the complete gallery click here

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