Librin "Nje note teper e larte: Si mbijetova ne jete, ne dashuri dhe ne American

 
New Jersey: Former "American Idol" judge Kara  DioGuardi signs her new 
book, A Helluva High Note:  Surviving Life, Love, and American Idol,  at 
Bookends in Ridgewood,  New Jersey 
BEQIR SINA, New  Jersey 
Kara DioGuardi botoi librin "Një notë tepër e lartë:  Si mbijetova në jetë, 
në dashuri dhe në American  Idol" 

Ridgewood, New Jersey—Kara DioGuardi, a former judge on “American Idol,”  
the most popular TV show of the last decade, spoke about her just-released  
memoir, A Helluva High Note:  Surviving Life, Love, and American  Idol, on 
April 26, at Bookends, an independent bookstore in Ridgewood, New  Jersey.  
She was accompanied to the  event by her father, former Congressman Joe 
DioGuardi, and her stepmother, a  writer and human rights activist, Shirley 
Cloyes  DioGuardi. 
Following a Q&A with the audience, Kara signed copies of her book and  took 
photographs.  The book signing  was covered by Rolling Stone  magazine, 
Illyria and Bota Sot, and it concluded with an  on-camera taped interview with 
Kara conducted by “Access  Hollywood.” 
Bookends, located at 211  East Ridgewood Avenue, is the only independent  
bookstore remaining in Ridgewood.  The store has been a town mainstay since  
the mid-1980s, and it has become a landmark for authors and readers, 
featuring  more than 100 author events annually.  Two to three times a week, 
Bookends welcomes celebrities, sports stars,  politicians, and local authors to 
its reading room. 
The audience  included singer Christina Elezaj and her father Marash 
Elezaj, who was born in  Ulqin, Montenegro, and today runs a  successful painting 
and decorating business that has received kudos for painting  the office of 
President Obama at the White House.] 
Kara DioGuardi spoke candidly about her experience on “American Idol,”  
which thrust her as an accomplished songwriter into the blinding spotlight of  
one of  the most successful series in U.S. television  history: 
"It  was a real learning curve for me.  Not only was I judging talent on  
the spot, but I was  learning how to be a TV personality," DioGuardi said.  
"Simon Cowell is in his  position for a reason. He's a brilliant TV  
personality, and you just  don't wake up being that." 
"I  think in the beginning I got it mixed up, since I was sort of 
positioned  as  'that industry person,' but you don't want to use terminology where  
people are like, 'What the hell is she saying?  She's so annoying.  Can we 
just  get to Simon?'  But I have a sense of humor about it. I  think that's 
the thing  that people don't get.  I'm not offended that you don't  like me, 
or that there  was something about me  that bothers you because I was very  
polarizing.  But I did  the best I could.  When I look back,  sometimes I 
think I could have done  better, but I did the  best I could under the most 
intense circumstances." 
Although she's no longer a part of “American Idol,” Kara's not letting  
her  newly honed TV chops go to waste.  Her new Bravo series, "Platinum Hit,"  
which premieres at the end of May, will once again see Kara on the judges'  
bench. This time, however, the territory is a bit more familiar:  
songwriting. 
"It's kind of an inside look at the process of songwriting.  It gives  
people an idea of what  songwriters do," she said. "I'm not sure that most 
people  know  that songwriting is even an occupation, so I hope they're going to 
be  entertained by it. There's obviously  lots of drama—it's Bravo. And 
Jewel is on it;  she's a host and a  judge." 
Aside from the craft of songwriting, DioGuardi is hoping viewers will  get  
a better idea of who she is, something she couldn't fully express  during  
her “Idol” run. 
"I  felt like people didn't really get a sense of who I was. There were a  
lot  of untruths and opinions that weren't always grounded in reality, and I 
 kind  of just wanted them to get a feel for me. I think that maybe it 
looked easy to  be on “Idol,” but it was pretty hard." 
So  what's the one thing DioGuardi wants viewers who were introduced to her 
 on  “Idol” to know about her now? 
"I  have a sense of humor, and I'm a lot cooler than I appeared on that  
show," she said.  "It was the  industry expert role, and I had to play that 
role.  That’s what was given to me, but I can't  tell you how many sessions I  
walked into, and people  were like  'Who the hell is that  girl on that 
show; that's  not even you!'  I have way more of a sense of humor, and  I don't 
take things  so seriously.  I would hope they see I'm more down to  earth 
than you'd  think, and I've struggled  in my life a lot to get to where I 
am." 
That's not to say that DioGuardi isn't thankful for the opportunity  to  
appear on “Idol.”  In fact,  the title of her memoir, A Helluva High  Note, 
makes reference to it.  However, she asserts the choice to leave when she did 
was a necessary  one, with the show retooling towards its future. 
"It  just seemed like I didn't know what was going on one minute to the 
next.  Names were being thrown around….  I just felt like I had so much on  my  
plate to begin with that I had to make the decision, and I really am  
grateful for  the experience of “Idol.”  I learned so much about an industry  I 
knew  
nothing about, television, and I walked out of there feeling like I'm a  
better  talent finder.  It is that  'helluva high note' to me.” 
As  for what “Idol” lessons she'll bring to “Platinum Hit,” Kara 
reiterated  her  desire to show more of her fun side as well as make the tough calls 
 that  contestants don't always like to hear—something she couldn't always  
express fully on “Idol.” 
"I  thought that without giving the mentoring [on “Idol'], it felt 
imbalanced," she  said.  "It's one thing to say 'that  sucked, period.'  It's 
another to say  'that wasn't good because of this, this, and this, and next week 
this is  what you need to concentrate on….  I'm a native New Yorker, so I'm  
edgier; I kind of tell it  like it is.  
Kara DioGuardi Memoir – A Helluva High Note –  Kara DioGuardi is an   
award-winning hitmaker, a savvy record executive, and a successful  music   
publisher, whose songs  have been recorded by such superstars as Pink, Carrie   
Underwood, Britney  Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen 
Stefani,   Santana, Steven Tyler,  Celine Dion, and so many others.  She was also 
the feisty fourth judge on  “American Idol.”  But success  wouldn’t have 
happened for this songwriter, artist, and producer without the  dark times of 
defeat.   
Filled  with the grace, raw  honesty, and haunting emotion of her hit 
songs, A Helluva  
High Note is the soundtrack to Kara’s  life—an intimate anthem about 
living,  creating, loving, stumbling, picking herself up again, and  ultimately  
succeeding.  It is a moving chronicle of the  experiences that have inspired 
her  songs and given her  the resilience and perspective to become  the 
confident,  accomplished, adventurous  warrior she is today. 
Kara not only writes about what it was like to collaborate with some of  
our  favorite performing artists, she also opens up about everything from  her 
  struggles with  debilitating stage fright and an equally paralyzing 
eating   
disorder, to the most devastating yet  profoundly life-altering experience— 
caring  for her mother during her fatal battle  with cancer.  And, of 
course,  she  shares  behind-the-scenes  stories from her years on “American Idol”
 and the  real truth about her  departure from the show. 
A Helluva High Note is filled with memorable and  inspirational tales from  
 the heart and trenches of life, business, and the world of  entertainment. 
  Passionate, wise, funny, and down-to-earth, it proves that finding,  
cultivating,  and following  your own true voice really is possible.