Every season, American Idol  takes some lucky contestants - and puts them right in the middle of a media fishbowl where their every move, past and present, is dissected and printed…usually with corresponding pictures.

But it’s not just the contestants who are under the microscope. Every season, the judges are quoted and pictured and filmed at length. In fact, some of them seem to get more screen time than the singers. This year, American Idol has offered up a new personality for the media to devour.

Her name is Kara DioGuardi, and she’s the fifth regular cast member to join the show. But let’s face facts: she’s still there, more or less, on trial. If DioGuardi doesn’t seem to work out pretty well this season, there’s no way of knowing if she’ll be back for the next.

The raven-haired addition to the panel admits that judging on America’s most popular show is “a hard job,” and that she feels she’s made “stupid mistakes” already. DioGuardi learned the hard way not to bang her hand on the judging table (screws with the sound) or lean too close to the mic (ditto).

“It’s hard to keep reinventing what you say,” she said of critiquing the contestants. Sister, you can say that again - I love Simon Cowell, but every time I hear him say “cabaret,” I grimace.

“I’m trying to do the best I can, and really be a good addition to the show,” she said in a recent interview with MSNBC. “I’m trying to get better.”

Kara DioGuardi’s musical credentials are impressive. Her songs have been recorded by the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill and the Jonas Brothers. But the American Idol method of working with contestants can be a little restrictive for judges. “I always want to go back there and show them what they’re doing wrong, and I really can’t do that,” she laments in the interview. “That’s hard for me, because I want to help them.”

So, what does Idol’s newest judge think of the tenured panel members? She says that Simon Cowell is “able to say what people may be thinking or feeling, but they wouldn’t dare to say.” Paula Abdul is “nurturing,” and “tries to find the good in everything.” She sees Randy Jackson  as “a real musician and a studio guy.” As for the Simon-Paula dynamic, DioGuardi isn’t going to try and mix up the chemistry. “Paula and Simon are adorable and very funny and colorful; I don’t feel like I should start competing with that.”

Then there’s no truth to the rumor that she’s going to replace one of these two, and that’s why she’s been introduced? “How could I replicate either of them?” DioGuardi asks of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. “That’s never been said to me. I think there would be absolute craziness if that were to happen. People would be so upset.”

Now that Idol has whittled the field to a simple seven, the competition is getting a little tighter. “I do think that there’s a solid front-runner,” DioGuardi admitted, but wouldn’t say the name. She doesn’t have to - it seems pretty obvious that Adam Lambert is the current odds-on favorite.

Kara DioGuardi, being a surprising newcomer to the show, has received a lot of buzz and plenty of press this season - but she isn’t letting it go to her head or allowing it to weigh her down. “This isn’t the Kara show, this is the American Idol show,” she said. “It’s my job to give the best advice I can, the best critique I can, and not let anybody saying negative things about me keep me from doing that, because the show is so much bigger than me.”

(You can find all the American Idol 8 posts here.)