Kara DioGuardi, the freshly-appointed fourth � American Idol� judge, joined Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson in a public show of solidarity Tuesday afternoon as they entered a Chelsea Piers building on Manhattan�s west side for a round of season eight auditions.

�Kara has a good reputation of A, having hits; and B, having an opinion. And that�s a good combination,� Cowell said, adding, matter-of-factly: �And she�s cute.�

�I know Kara, and she speaks her mind � so she will be speaking her mind,� Abdul said of DioGuardi�s judging technique.

�That�s a nice way of saying she�s bitchy,� Cowell sniped, eliciting a �Whooooooooah!� from Jackson.

�Then what are you if I�m bitchy?� DioGuardi said.

�Sincere,� Cowell responded.

�I�m sincere too,� she said.

Cowell said they hadn�t fully decided how ties will be broken in the audition process. In past seasons, two out of three judges had to agree to advance aspiring pop stars to the Hollywood round.

Cowell says that he will be sitting in between the two girls… and that Paula will have to quit talking as much so they can hear all four opinions in the tight-crunched show. Nice.

Source: msn

Photo: Jason Decrow / AP

DROP A COMMENT BELOW