Sadly, no. But wow: Ellen Degeneres actually jumped up from her perch on the judges’ panel to hug contestant Tim Urban for doing an impressive job on that old Idol standard “Hallelujah.” And Kara Dioguardi let her steely guard down, sobbing uncontrollably over new dad Michael Lynche’s R&B stylings.

What is going on?! Tim’s cute and all — and Michael seems like a really nice guy – but they did not exactly blow the roof off the joint. Crystal Bowersox can do that with no effort at all. As Simon Cowell says, it’s hers to win; but where’s the love, hugs and tears for the girls?

Let’s be honest here: This season’s male singers lack the frontman charisma of an Adam Lambert, a  Chris Daughtry, or even, dare say it, a David Archuleta.

Michael’s smooth, emotional performance brought Kara to tears because she was reminded of his powerful Idol-ready backstory — that of a devoted family man whose maturity touches her deeply. OK, so maybe he exudes a teensy bit of charisma. As for Tim, who should be filed under Most Improved, Ellen all but knighted him a future top-tier contestant with a simple hug: This kid is a shoo-in, partly because Ellen approves and partly because he looks like Zac Efron’s cousin. Still, one might imagine him as the leader of an acapella group or a principal on Glee – not creating buzz and singles as a frontman cog in the wheel of the Idol-industrial complex.

Still, where is this season’s Adam Lambert? Why are the guys so BLAH? Is there anyone from the past — cough Adam cough — that you wish would return and make you wanna dial his number 5,000 times?

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According to reports, Madonna’s boyfriend, Jesus Luz, doesn’t actually know how to DJ, but rakes in $10,000 for appearances anyway. (Radar)

Andrea Friedman, who voiced a character on Family Guy meant to be the daughter of Sarah Palin and who also has Down’s syndrome, said the former governor doesn’t have a sense of humor about the joke. (Palingates)

Jessica Simpson is turning to her sister, Ashlee, for comfort after John Mayer revealed intimate details of their sex life last week. (OK)

In other Jessica news, she is supposedly dating ex-boyfriend Dane Cook again. (Anything Hollywood)

Ellen Degeneres surprised down-on-her-luck American Idol castoff Angela Martin with the promise that Kara DioGuardi would write a song especially for her to record, and that the two Idol judges would help her land a record deal. (Ellen)

(Photo by WENN)

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Kara Dioguardi has worked with Hilary on "With Love", "Come Clean", "Someone’s Watching Over Me", "Most Wanted" and various others – she was a part of 12 songs on the latest album, "Dignity", co-writing the songs with Hilary. Kara DioGuardi is a co-writer on every song on the album except "Outside of You" and "Gypsy Woman." Hilary says she enjoyed working with Kara because she liked her work on melodies.

This season, in an aim to make some changs, 4 judges will sit on the panel. Kara DioGuardi joins Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson as a regular judge for American Idol. The producers are hoping the change will make the show more interesting and "sexier", says Jackson. Kara is opinionated and spunky, and already contributing to the fun dynamic of the judging (NYC tryouts just happened).

Kara DioGuardi is a songwriter, record producer and singer who works mostly in the light pop-rock genre. She has been nominated for many Grammy’s and has had songs recorded by artists from Celine Dion to Kelly Clarkson, and Hilary Duff too! You can see who else she’s worked with here.

Image: © 2007 FOX BROADCASTING

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