Simon Cowell: Kara DioGuardi Will Be Back on Idol

Kara DioGuardi - who recently fretted about her future on American Idol - can breathe a sigh of relief: She'll be back next season.

Tart-tongued judge Simon Cowell broke the news to Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show, airing Tuesday.

"I think certainly next year everyone's going to be back," he said.

"Really?" DeGeneres asked.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said.

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Still, he admitted having four judges can get tricky.

"There's less time for us to talk," said Cowell, who also shares screen time with Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.

"One week literally we couldn't talk, so 10 minutes before the show started they said, 'Oh by the way you can't talk for half the show,'" he said. "It's rather like saying in a singing competition to the singers, half of you can't sing. It was just crazy."

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Of course, Cowell couldn't pass up the opportunity to bash Ryan Seacrest, joking that he has lost popularity because he enters the show on a staircase.

"It made him appear more pompous, obnoxious, taking himself a bit seriously," Cowell said. "You don't give yourself that type of entrance."

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DeGeneres joked that Seacrest could enter on an elevator. "Yeah, but he'd still want it lit!" Cowell shot back. "That's the problem."

Cowell was a bit nicer when the topic turned to frontrunner Adam Lambert.

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"I like the fact he's fearless," Cowell said. "He's not playing it safe. A lot of the people that take part in these shows want to sing 'Wind Beneath My Wings' every week because it's a sappy song. He's got guts."

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