No Idol Catfights, Says Ryan Seacrest

For seven seasons, Paula Abdul has been blessed (though some might say "cursed") to be the only woman judge on America's most popular show. But with the announcement on Monday that songwriter and producer Kara DiaGuardia had been added for the upcoming season of American Idol, some Hollywood insiders were predicting that the "Straight Up" singer would be showing her claws to defend her territory.

But according to Idol host Ryan Seacrest, that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Let's clear the air," he said during a break at Tuesday's first-round auditions in Manhattan. "Paula and Kara are great together. They used to live together and Paula helped her out years ago. Now the two of them are on the same team."

However, this hasn't stopped resident imp Simon Cowell from trying to stir up trouble. "I love catfights," he told OK!. "I encourage them. It's no fun if everyone gets along."

To that end, Simon has already started in on trying to cause a rift. "I wouldn't have recognized Kara by the way Paula described her," Simon said. "I was expecting someone maybe 50 years old, about 180 lbs., maybe a bit of gray hair."

During yesterday's announcement, AI producer Simon Fuller described Kara as a "“smart, sassy lady," who will "bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show.”