Kara DioGuardi

Kara DioGuardi established herself as one of the most prolific pop songwriters of early 21st century Top 40. She specialized in up-tempo female-driven pop with a litany of chart-busters authored for such artists as Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, and Hilary Duff -- to such a degree that the said artists owed a significant degree of their success to her involvement. As an entrepreneur, DioGuardi established the corporation Arthouse Entertainment, designed as a launching pad to develop and mentor up-and-coming artists in the music industry -- and quickly pushed the company to number seven on the Billboard List of Top Ten National Music Publishers for three quarters in a row. By that point, DioGuardi had also established a catalogue of well over 250 songs. The songwriter stepped in front of the cameras in 2009 as a judge on season eight of the white-hot Fox reality series American Idol, making her the second female judge opposite Paula Abdul. - Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide