First Paula Abdul got her own dance reality show on CBS. Now her fellow former "American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi--who "resigned" from "Idol" earlier this year to make room for Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler--has landed a new job too.
Kara, who's written hits for Pink, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, and others, is headed to Bravo to judge "Going Platinum" (formerly titled "Hitmakers"), a new songwriting competition that premieres next year. The show, a "nationwide search for America's next great songwriter," will also be hosted by Jewel and will reportedly feature involvement from Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic (who's penned or co-penned hits for Beyonce, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, J.Lo, and Natasha Bedingfield), Sean Kingston, Gavin DeGraw, and Jason Derulo.
I'm actually pretty excited about this program. Kara may have been grating and condescending on "Idol," but she did know her stuff most of the time. So her industry expertise will serve her well here. And unlike "American Idol," this show's outcome will be determined by professional judges, not the voting public...so maybe some genuinely good music will come out of this televised experiment, which will pit 12 aspiring songwriters against each other in a competition for a $100,000 cash prize, a publishing deal with Sony, and a recording contract with RCA/Jive.
Additionally, Bravo does this type of programming well--this is the network that very credibly chronicled the creative process on ventures like "Project Runway," "Shear Genius," and "Top Chef," after all--and finally, it's about time that songwriters got their due in the talent-show format. Most musical TV talent competitions focus solely on singing and performance, and shows like "American Idol" have long been panned by industry pundits and music snobs for allegedly manfacturing puppet-like pop stars who have little to no input in their "product." But with many Idols seizing creative control (recent winners David Cook, Kris Allen, and Lee DeWyze wrote or co-wrote the majority of songs on their debut albums; Kelly Clarkson quite famously battled with BMG label honcho Clive Davis over her largely self-penned third release My December), it makes sense that songwriters are finally getting the reality-show treatment, too.
"Hit songs are the backbone of the music industry, and as a publisher, nothing excites me more than finding new songwriting talent," said the newly employed Kara in a press release. "I am happy to be a part of a show that helps up and coming songwriters pursue their dreams, while giving the public a look into the creative process."
Awesome. Now can we please just get Brian Dunkleman a new job?
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