American Idol's Kara DioGuardi on Paula and Ellen

If Kara DioGuardi has her way, she and Ellen DeGeneres will be hitting it off like franks and beans, peanut butter and jelly, frick and frack... two peas in a pod. At at an industry conference in New York, Kara was musing about the upcoming season of American Idol in which DioGuardi and DeGeneres will be sharing the judges' table together -- with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, of course.

"I'm hoping the chemistry with Ellen will be great -- and a great start to the season," said Kara.

With that in mind, Kara's going to sleep on the couch at Ellen's house until they're bosom buddies. ...Kidding! But Kara will try to spend some time with Ellen during December when they both have some time off from their busy schedules.

This sounds like a perfectly swell idea, but whether it pays off with on-screen chemistry is anybody's guess. Chemistry is not something you can manufacture, as last season on American Idol proved. While Kara had all the credentials necessary to be an Idol judge, she didn't exactly fit in. She never really clicked with the other judges, and there was even speculation that she might not be back. Instead, it was Paula Abdul who exited, presumably over money.

There was some friction last season but not between Paula and Kara. Kara clashed with bikini girl, remember that? And Simon and Ryan always nitpick at each other. But Kara and Paula were okay together.

Kara, in fact, had only nice things to say about Paula this past week in New York. "[She was] the heart of the show... [she] nurtured and empathized. That was her role, and she was great at it."

It'll be interesting to see what role Ellen takes this year, and if Kara's second season is better than her first.