'American Idol' judge Kara DioGuardi speaks about eating disorder

American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi has spoken for the first time about her eating disorder and the tools she used to rise above it.
"I've never spoken about this," she said, in an interview with "Extra". "I had kind of a binge eating disorder where, instead of dealing with my emotions, I would stuff them down with food."
She clarified that while she never starved herself or forced herself to throw up, it was, indeed, an eating disorder, one that she was treated for when she was younger.
"I really was a creative kid who didn't know she was creative and didn't have those outlets because I was always afraid to join the theater group and not perform," DioGuardi added.
Once she began taking advantage of those "outlets," both her confidence and her health improved tremendously.
"The moment I started doing music," she said, "the moment I did what I loved to do in my life and committed to it, I didn't have those problems anymore."
The pressure of being in the spotlight still exists now that she is on Idol, but the songwriter has learned to deal with her anxieties.
"It's kind of like, 'Oh god, why did I say that? Why did I do this?'" she said.
"But I made this commitment in my life to face my fears and if I am afraid of something, I make sure I do it."
Now, DioGuardi runs a program out of L.A.’s Phoenix House that helps build confidence in children.

'American Idol' What should the Top 7 sing for Disco Night

Prepare for some couch-dancing, Idoloonies! That is, if things go well on tonight's disco-themed performance episode of American Idol. Of course, if the top 7 are stupefyingly uncreative -- or limited to the same tiny list of songs the Idol producers seem destined to hear on the show over and over and over -- then we'll be hearing three Donna Summer tunes, three tracks off the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and Danny Gokey's cover of "Grease." And I'll be dialing 1-800-Head-in-the-Oven! But why choose pessimism when blinding, delusional optimism can keep a spring in your step till Ryan Seacrest gets all up in your face come 8 p.m. EDT? Here's my Disco Night request list for the remaining finalists. Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out, then post picks of your own in the comments section below.
Adam Lambert: Sylvester's "Do You Wanna Funk" or Musique's "In the Bush" Allison Iraheta: Indeep's "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" or Loleatta Holloway's "Runaway" Anoop Desai: KC and the Sunshine Band's "Keep It Comin' Love" or France Joli's "Come to Me" Danny Gokey: Cheryl Lynn's "Got to Be Real" or Patrick Hernandez's "Born to Be Alive" Kris Allen: Andrea True Connection's "More More More" or Odyssey's "Native New Yorker" Lil Rounds: First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" or Alicia Bridges' "I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round)"
Matt Giraud: The Gap Band's "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" or Machine's "There But for the Grace of God Go I"

The time of reckoning is upon us. Two qualified American Idol contestants will walk the Seacrestian Plank of Doom tonight, bidding farewell to the program that has momentarily made them household names. Disco night will be the death of a duo of singers, this we know, but who will those singers be? In a world where justice reigns supreme, a world where crime and villainy hold no stature, Lil Rounds would be one of the two departing American Idol contestants. Unfortunately, the Idol voters know not the joy and satisfaction of truth, and could very well eliminate two very good contestants like Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta. I have pegged Lil and Anoop Desai for elimination, but I would not bet more than a halfpence on either. The potential for fireworks and anarchy and complete bedlam is there tonight. In any case, it will be fun.Hang out with me for an hour or so. We'll engage in some friendly banter, make fun of Paula Abdul's faulty metaphors, and generally make the best of American Idol's Results Show. If reading along with some charalatan's banal live thoughts doesn't interest you (and I understand if it doesn't), I invite you to click on one of the below links.
Caught the last couple minutes of Lie to Me. Not very impressed. You are better than this, Tim Roth. THIS IS AMERICAN IDOL!!!
The dramatic opening video package is once again scored to ominous orchestral music. Basically, it's just a recap of the judges' comments for each of the Top 7.
Seacrest opens the live portion of tonight's program on stage, hair well-parted, looking he just got beamed down from space. The crowd is going wild, and Seacrest welcomes the crowd with a "Happy Earth Day," which immediately quiets everyone.
The Bane of My Existence, aka David Archuleta, will be performing tonight. So, we'll all have a little fun with that. I think I'll give him a full critique, just for old times' sake.
Oh, wow. We see a video of Paula Abdul teaching the Top 7 their choreography for tonight's group song. And in the middle there's a shameless promotion for iTunes. I don't even want to discuss it. Why even bother to make it look like it happen randomly.
The group song begins and the Top 7 are all wearing old school disagree, which is kind of cool, I guess. And, they've stopped with the nonsense - they don't even have microphones now and just lip-syncing. This is like bad high-school theater. You shouldn't teach complex choreography to non-pro dancers. Maybe this is a clever viral promotion of FOX's upcoming Glee.