In the wake of conspicuously toupeed grunge fanatic David Cook's baffling victory at a recent finale, American Idol has decided to increase its critical component by adding a fourth judge. Joining Randy, Paula, and Simon at the table for the show's upcoming eighth season will be Kara DioGuardi, a songwriter whose credits include hits by Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, and Gwen Stefani. Encouragingly, she's worked with Dr. Dre and Justin Timberlake, making her the show's least lame adjudicator by a mile. Discouragingly, she's also collaborated with Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, which means she probably harbors no innate bias against this season's impending torrent of crappy David Cook sound-alikes.

'American Idol' adds DioGuardi as fourth judge [AP]