People will get a chance to see the American Idol Tour when it comes to the Sprint Center in Kansas City tonight and Saturday.

All 10 performers featured on the tour had to sing their hearts out to impress “American Idol’s” trio of well-known judges: Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.

Now, future contestants will have to impress one more.

Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi, who has written songs for artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Pink, Christina Aguilera and many others, will be joining the judge’s panel for “Idol’s” upcoming eighth season.

This change to the country’s most popular television program has many questioning how the new judge’s presence could affect the show. But regional fans don’t seem to mind all that much.

Ember Power, a 20-year-old Kansas City resident, has been a fan of “Idol” since the beginning. She loves “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson and would love to throw off Simon Cowell. But she’s not quite as passionate either way about Ms. DioGuardi’s presence.

“If they feel like they need a fourth judge, they can have a fourth judge, but I don’t really care,” Ms. Power said.

Ms. Power’s boyfriend, 21-year-old Jon Schmidt, isn’t as fanatic about “Idol” as Power, but thinks Ms. DioGuardi’s musical background would be beneficial at the judge’s table.

“With somebody who actually does that for a living ... they are going to know what to look for,” Mr. Schmidt said.

Even though “American Idol” has consistently been the year’s number one-rated show, this past season “Idol” experienced its first drop in ratings, according to USA Today.

Tralaine Thomas, 29, from Maryville, Mo., thinks the new judge may be an attempt to boost ratings. But 20-year-old Maryville resident Lucretia Lester thinks the only thing the addition will boost, is confusion.

“It’s going to be different,” Ms. Lester said. “The voting’s going to be off (among the judges). I bet they are going to have a lot of ties.”

Blake Hannon can be reached at

blakehannon@npgco.com