Kara DioGuardi

American Idol announced the addition of a fourth judge — songwriter Kara Dioguardi — on Monday. Who is the woman who will be joining Simon, Randy, and Paula?

DioGuardi will join "Idol's" judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul as the new American Idol judge in the coming season, which begins in January. She gets her start today in New York as contestants who passed the early auditions face the big judges for the first time.

"I just know that I'm supposed to have my makeup done by 11 o'clock," said Kara DioGuardi, who couldn't comment on the seating arrangements or how tie votes will be broken.

Adding DioGuardi is the latest twist in the hit singing-contest show. It comes after a season that saw some audience erosion and barbs from critics that the format had grown stale.

Kara DioGuardi's Wikipedia page describes her as "an American songwriter, record producer, and singer who has contributed to a long list of internationally successful popular songs" — she grew up in Westchester, New York, attended Duke University, and worked in marketing and publishing at Billboard Magazine.