Don’t feel to bad for American Idol ex-judge Kara DioGuardi, she already landed a new job.

Last month Kara announced she was leaving American Idol after being a judge on the show for two seasons. At the time, DioGuardi said, “”I felt like I won the lottery when I joined American Idol two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave Idol,” DioGuardi said in a statement. “I am very proud to have been associated with [the show] — it has truly been an amazing experience. I am grateful to Fox, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, as well as the cast, crew and contestants, for all they have given to me. I look forward to my next challenge, and want to thank everyone who has supported me. All the best to everyone on Season 10!”

Now it seems her next challenge is upon her already. It was announced today that DioGuardi will be one of the judges on Bravo’s upcoming singer-songwriter competition show, Going Platinum.

The show will be hosted by Jewel and is set to premiere next year. It will follow 12 musicians as they compete in songwriting challenges. Each episode will feature a different theme in which contestants will be required to write and perform music from that genre.

“Hit songs are the backbone of the music industry, and as a publisher, nothing excites me more than finding new songwriting talent,” DioGuardi said in a statement. “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.”

The winner of Going Platinum will earn a $100,000 cash prize; a publishing deal with Sony, and a recording deal with RCA/Jive Records.

Fox announced today that Ellen DeGeneres is leaving “American Idol.” There have rumors circulating that the network was looking to shake-up the Idol format and that they may even ditch all of the current judges and bring back original producer, Nigel Lythgoe.

DeGeneres released a statement today regarding what she claims was her decision. “A couple months ago, I let Fox and the ‘American Idol’ producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” DeGeneres said. “I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for. I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on ‘Idol’ and I am very grateful for the year I had. I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”

Fox also made their own statement about the changes at Idol. “We love Ellen and understand and support her decision to bow out of ‘Idol,’” said Peter Rice, chairman of entertainment, Fox Networks Group. “We were fortunate to receive the humor, energy and love for talent that she brought to the show.”

“It was a joy to work with Ellen,” added Mike Darnell, president of alternative entertainment, Fox. “She brought an incredible spirit to ‘Idol’ and was a great new addition to the team. While we’re saddened by her decision, we are very appreciative that she gave us ample notice so that we could work through it together.”

Ryan Seacrest announced a “big change” for Season 10 of America Idol, the age range for contestants has been expanded to include singers from the age 15 to age 28. The change came at a time when some of the country’s hottest singers, like Justin Beiber, are still in their teens.

“A lot of young, talented people are now seeking careers and representation before they turn 16,” says Idol executive producer, Cecile Frot-Coutaz. “Lowering the age limit allows us to tap into this talent pool.”

But that wasn’t the only news Ryan was tweeting this week, he also announced this season’s audition cities, writing, “Just got audition cities for @americanidol 10: Nashville, Milwaukee, New Orleans, E. Rutherford, Austin & S.F.”

Check out the list of audition cities below to find the city nearest you!

Nashville, TN – Saturday, July 17 – Bridgestone Arena
Milwaukee, WI – Wednesday, July 21 – Bradley Center
New Orleans, LA – Monday, July 26 – TBA
East Rutherford, NJ – Tuesday, Aug. 3 – IZOD Center
Austin, TX – Wednesday, Aug. 11 – Frank Erwin Center
San Francisco, CA – Thursday, Aug. 19 – AT&T Park

After Bret Michael’s surprise appearance on the American Idol season finale, fans started speculating that Michaels’ might make an acceptable replacement for judge Simon Cowell who will not return next year.

Michaels, who performed a duet with Idol finalist Casey James on Wednesday’s show, just three days after winning Celebrity Apprentice, told the crowd at his Biloxi, Miss., show Friday night that he was in the running to replace Cowell. “I can’t say this is true yet, ’cause I don’t know. Next year they asked me to possibly be the judge on ‘American Idol,” he said, before beginning the Poison classic ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn.’

A rep for FOX had no comment.

The announcement came on the heels of an exciting week for Michaels, who was hospitalized in April after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Last Sunday, Bret was on hand to find out he had won the Celebrity Apprentice, earning 250,000 for Diabetes research. Friday’s concert was also his first since he fell ill last month.

Michaels’ reality series, Bret Michaels: Life as We Know It premiered last night at 10PM on VH1.

American Idol
Fox 8 pm
Tonight, either Mount Prospect, Ill. native Lee DeWyze or Elliston, Ohio’s favorite daughter, Crystal “Mama Sox” Boxersox, will be crowned the winner of American Idol. Tonight’s super-sized episode will also be Simon’s last.

CSI: NY
CBS 10 pm
Shane Casey (Edward Furlong), a serial killer, stole Danny’s badge weeks ago and has been posing as a police officer. In the season finale, Casey zeros in on his next victim, Danny, who is on vacation with Lindsay and their daughter. That doesn’t stop Casey from finding him in an episode that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Criminal Minds
CBS 9 pm
Tim Curry guest-stars as a serial killer profiled in this season finale. As his character is terrorizing Los Angeles by murdering entire families, he inadvertently leaves one family member alive to remember the crime.

Saving Africa’s Witch Children
HBO 8 pm
Growing up in poverty can be hard enough on a child, now imagine if your family thought you were posessed. This 2008 exposé by Dutch filmmakers Mags Gavan and Joost van der Valk takes a look at a part of Nigeria where children are ostracized, tortured or even murdered after being singled out as witches by religious leaders.

More than 20 million viewers tuned in to ‘Idol Gives Back,’ last week raising almost $45 million for various charities.

The night also included performances from Alicia Keys, Elton John, Mary J. Blige, Carrie Underwood and Jeff Beck. Bout her performance, Carrie Underwood said, “Tonight I’m actually doing one of my own and it’s on my latest album. It talks about pocket change, 36 cents, doing good in the world. It talks about how the smallest thing makes a huge difference. It really fits in with tonight’s concept and just on another note carrying through with that, on my fall tour we’re going to donate 36 cents of every ticket sold to Save the Children, which is a beneficiary of Idol Gives Back. We’re just carrying on after Idol Gives Back.”

The top 12, all wearing crisp white outfits, were reunited for one last group number, the 1986 Freiheit song “Keeping the Dream Alive,” followed by the Black Eyed Peas, who beamed in for their tune “Rock That Body” on a stage.

In between performances and pre-recorded packages from various locations, IGB asked viewers to call in donations for the Children’s Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children’s U.S. programs and the United Nations Foundation. Having previously raised more than $140 million for charity, this year’s event held great promise for these five charity partners.

The evening opened with President Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama, delivering a pre-taped message from the White House. ” ‘American Idol’ has always been about changing lives, on the stage and around the world,” the president said. “That’s why Michelle and I want to take a moment to thank everyone watching tonight for your continued generosity as part of ‘Idol Gives Back.’”

Among the stars lending a hand through video segments were Jennifer Garner, former guest judge Victoria Beckham, Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, George Lopez, David Duchovny, Chris Rock, Josh Groban, Morgan Freeman, Slash, Jim Carrey, Wanda Sykes and Ben Affleck.

To donate to “Idol Gives Back,” call (877) 436-5243 or visit AmericanIdol.com.

“American Idol’s” annual “Idol Gives Back” special is shaping up with some big names, including the President and First Lady.

According to FOX News, the Obamas taped a video message for the “American Idol” charity event that airs on Wednesday, Apirl 21.

“Idol Gives Back” kicked off six weeks ago when last year’s winner, Kris Allen, traveled to Haiti and returned to “Idol” to talk about his trip and encourage people to donate at Idol Aid.

Idol alum Elliott Yamin and Kara DioGuardi also got involved recently by traveling to Angola where they met with a woman who started a school for displaced children

Ryan Seacrest has also been busy for “Idol Gives Back,” he recently flew up to Seattle to meet with Bill and Melinda Gates about a donation.

Celebrities like David Duchovny, Chris Rock and Justin Bieber have also been recording their PSAs for broadcast during the show.

To date, the charity event (held in both 2007 and 2008) has raised over $140 million. This year the money will benefit Children’s Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children’s U.S. programs and the United Nations Foundation.

American Idol shifted its schedule last week, but not to accommodate one its high profile judges, instead it was to help out one of their contestants. Idol switched the order for the guys and girls, and let the guys go first after doctors kept Crystal Bowersox out of the competition on Tuesday. If they hadn’t made the change for Crystal, she would have been disqualified for not performing, even though she was hospitalized at the time.

It was an unprecedented move  for one of TV’s biggest shows and one that paid off for Bowersox, who swept the incident aside and landed in the Top 12. But, will her health keep her from winning it all?

Bowersox, a 24-year-old Ohio native and mother, suffers from diabetes. Currently, she is the unanimous favorite among online betting sites to win season nine but some speculate her illness may prevent her from winning.

Former American Idol contestants Christina Christian, Megan Joy and David Cook also experienced health scares during the competition. Cook, whose condition was perhaps the most serious in ‘Idol’s’ history, was hospitalized for heart palpitations and high blood pressure but went on to win it all. Maybe she can follow in Cook’s footsteps and overcome her illness to win it all.

Fox’s NFC Championship Game featuring Minnesota vs. New Orleans claimed 57.9 million viewers Sunday, the biggest conference title since 1982, and the two American Idol episodes finished second and third, giving Fox an average of 24.4 million viewers for its prime-time programming between Jan. 18 and Sunday, according to figures released Tuesday by the Nielsen Co.

Viewership for the New Orleans Saints’ 31-28 overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday was the second largest for an NFL conference championship game, trailing only the 1982 match-up between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, which averaged 68.7 million viewers. This was thanks in part to the Saints storied run along with Brett Favre’s comeback with the Vikings.

Sunday’s game was also the most-watched prime-time program, other than Super Bowls, since the 1998 finale of the NBC comedy Seinfeld, which averaged 76.3 million viewers.

Here are the full prime-time numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Jan. 18-24.

Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. NFC Championship: Minnesota vs. New Orleans, Fox, 57.93 million.

2. “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 26.85 million.

3. “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 26.38 million.

4. “NFC Championship Post-Game Show,” Fox, 23.83 million.

5. “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 16.31 million.

6. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 15.05 million.

7. “Criminal Minds,” CBS, 14.91 million.

8. “The Mentalist,” CBS, 14.56 million.

9. “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 14.29 million.

10. “NCIS,” CBS, 14.19 million.

11. “CSI: NY,” CBS, 13.54 million.

12. “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 13.22 million.

13. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 12.7 million.

14. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 12.34 million.

15. “Bones,” Fox, 11.97 million.

16. “24,” Fox, 11.11 million.

17. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 10.67 million.

18. “Human Target,” Fox, 10.46 million.

19. “How I Met Your Mother,” CBS, 10.41 million.

20. “Biggest Loser 9,” NBC, 9.95 million.

According to Nielsen’s estimates, 29.8 million viewers tuned in to the two-hour debut of American Idol’s ninth season, its first without Paula Abdul as a judge. Although the premiere audience was down compared to the 30.4 million who watched the first episode last season. Though American Idol is still the biggest show on television, ratings have thinned the last few years. Combined with judge Simon Cowell leaving after this season, there is concern at Fox that Idol will lose even more of its viewership and <gasp> potentially come in second in the ratings.

Cowell is unlikely to say anything on the air about his move until the live episodes of Idol begin in February with new host Ellen DeGeneres.

Yet, besides landing 29.9 million viewers, American Idol ruled the night among adults ages 18-49, attracting 15.5 million in the demographic, which matches a year ago.

NBC and ABC appeared to take the biggest hit from American Idol. CBS’ NCIS, which averaged 20.1 million viewers in the 8 p.m. hour, and NCIS: Los Angeles averaged 15.5 million viewers at 9 p.m.

American Idol wasn’t the only show doing big numbers Tuesday night. NBC’s The Tonight Show spiked with viewers t tuning in to see what host Conan O’Brien would say on the air regarding his situation. Earlier this week, O’Brien issued a statement saying he was not interested in doing The Tonight Show if the network moved it to 12:05 a.m. from 11:35 p.m. to make room for Jay Leno’s return from prime time to late night.

CBS also won the 10 p.m. hour following Idol with The Good Wife (13.8 million), which outperformed The Jay Leno Show on NBC (6.2 million) and The Forgotten on ABC (4.4 million). NBC ranked third on the night, averaging 8.1 million for The Biggest Loser from 8 to 10, while ABC finished a distant fourth.