Kara DioGuardi may have finished her work on this season's American Idol last week, but that doesn't mean she's on vacation now.  For one thing, she's in New York today, helping judge Folger jingle contest to determine which of five finalists will receive $25,000 and a chance to appear in a Folger commercial.  "I was very impressed with what these people did," says Kara, who says her pick for the winner will "come down to the most unique version. When I'm looking at somebody performing, and the objective was to put yourself into the song – inject your experience, your life, your relationship to that iconic song – it's going to be who did it in the most interesting way, and who will I remember tomorrow."  Next week, she'll be in Nashville, introducing Carrie Underwood (whose current single, Undo It, is a Kara co-write) at the CMT Music Awards.  "It's difficult, sometimes, to balance it all," says Kara, who also co-wrote Colbie Caillat's current single, I Never Told You, and appears on Meat Loaf's new album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear. I'm still writing, and I just was in the studio with James Morrison last week. He is such a great soul singer."  As Kara looks back on Season 9, she says that she was struck as much by the personality of winner Lee DeWyze as she was by his musical abilities.  "For someone to stand in front of 25 million people and be that vulnerable and easily accessible, in terms of his heart and whatever he sang, to feel like it's really coming from him, that's very impressive to me," Kara says. "A lot of people clam up on that stage and don't allow their true selves to come out. With him, he was a genuinely nice guy, appreciative, couldn't believe that people felt he was really good."  Kara does show some surprise when hearing that Lee referenced acts like Ben Harper, Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine when talking about his forthcoming album, and she notes that acts in his position often go through stages as they make their albums and decide what they'll sound like.  "You have to realize that someone's just gone through a life-changing experience," she says. "They come out the other side and go, 'I want to be this! I want to be that! I can fly!' I don't know that the first thing they're saying is really where the album's going to go."  Kara also says that Season 9 showcased some new types of voices for the show, voices that didn't always flourish as they got tossed from genre to genre and theme to theme each week.  "This is something that music is going through that the show is learning how to incorporate," she says. "Ten years ago, when I came up, I sang Mariah Carey. She was my peer group, and she was hitting notes all over the place. Now, people don't do that. Ke$ha doesn't hit notes all over the place. Katy Perry doesn't hit notes all over the place. So what does that mean for Idol?  Kara gives finalists Didi Benami and Lacey Brown as examples of these new, stylized voices. "When you try to move them around in genres, that's not their thing," she says. "People say, 'Oh, the talent,' but it's a different thing, musically. Listen to the radio: Celine Dion doesn't exist on the radio anymore."  If the changes in the types of singer Idol sees is a permanent shift rather than a one-year anomaly, the show is in a good place to address the situation, as it must replace a musical director and a judge.  "So let's see what happens," Kara says. "It's still a huge show, and if there's talent out there, it's going to be big, year after year.  "It's all about the talent. It's all about making sure we have the greatest talent."
Kara DioGuardi discusses Lee DeWyze, 'American Idol' Season 9 - Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors, & Information