Fox network announced on Friday that DioGuardi is departing the show after weeks of media speculation, leaving just one of the original judges, Randy Jackson, still on the panel.

DioGuardi thanked everyone who supported her during her two seasons on the show and wished the best to everyone taking part in the upcoming Season 10 that will be broadcast from January.

“I felt like I won the lottery when I joined “American Idol” two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave ‘Idol,” DioGuardi said in a statement.

“It has truly been an amazing experience … I look forward to my next challenge,” she said without elaborating on the reasons for her departure.

While DioGuardi’s statement suggested the move was her choice, her exit comes amid speculation that she was axed as the network and producers shake up the judging panel in the wake of Cowell’s departure and to arrest a ratings decline.

The American Idol franchise has had some of the highest ratings on U.S. television since it began in 2001 and remained the most-watched show on U.S. television last season, generating big advertising revenues for Fox.

But ratings have been sliding for four years which has also affected sales of the up-and-artists who find fame on the show.

National auditions for the show’s new season are already underway but the new lineup of judges is yet to be unveiled.

Media reports have suggested that Fox has secured singer Jennifer Lopez and Areosmith rocker Steven Tyler to sit as judges alongside veteran judge Jackson.

It is uncertain whether Fox will stick with a four judge panel or revert to its original panel of three.

Fox released a flurry of statements praising DioGuardi and saying she would be missed on the show.

Simon Cowell, the abrasive British judge, was the first to quit the show, leaving in May to launch another talent show “The X Factor.”

TMZ has obtained the mug shots taken by T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Cottle — right after they were arrested on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood late Wednesday night.

As we first reported, the newlyweds were arrested around 10:18 PM after cops say they were in possession of a controlled substance. We’re told the substance in question is ecstasy.

San Jose State University is filing a lawsuit against four Sigma Gamma Rho sorority members who were convicted of hazing her in 2008 during the pledge process.

Howard said she and other pledges were warned that “snitches get stitches” while they were punched, kicked and paddled during their initiation

Sigma Gamma Rho sisters Princess Odom, Monique Hughes, Joslyn Beard and Nicole Remble (pictured above, clockwise from top-left) pleaded no contest earlier this year to misdemeanor hazing and were sentenced to 90 days in jail, two years probation and banned from associating with the sorority.

Part of me wants to say that Howard should have known what she was getting into; no frat or sorority hides the fact that pledging will take some mental and physical endurance.

Source

Shaun Rogers, a Defensive Tackle for the Cleveland Browns, was fined $400,000 by the league for violating its personal conduct policy. Rogers was caught carrying a loaded gun inside an airport. The fine represents approximately 1/17th of his $6.9 million salary.

Some would say that Rogers got off easy, since it would have been no surprise to see him either suspended or sent to jail. The player was caught carrying a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his carry-on bag at Hopkins International Airport. There’s no indication regarding whether or not he realized that TSA agents actually have the ability to see inside of someone’s luggage with their x-ray machine. It’s hard to imagine what he might have been thinking.

One of the reasons Rogers was let off so easily by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell might have something to do with a good samaritan act Shaun committed recently. Earlier this summer, Rogers saw a man who appeared to be driving drunk. He called 911 and waited on the side of the road for police to arrive. Rogers was praised by police for his public service.

Black Voices -

CNN reports -

The tubby Indonesian toddler who caused a sensation last spring by enthusiastically puffing on cigarettes in a widely viewed video has quit smoking, according to media reports.

Two-year-old Ardi Rizal of South Sumatra, who reportedly smoked 40 cigarettes a day, has broken his nicotine addiction through a 30-day rehabilitation program, the Jakarta Globe reported Thursday.

“He has stopped smoking and doesn’t ask for cigarettes anymore,” Arist Merdeka Sirait, chairman of Indonesia’s National Commission on Child Protection, said, according to another publication, Earth Times.According to earlier reports, the child was placed in state custody after the video emerged and the boy’s parents said he would cry and throw tantrums if he went too long without smoking a cigarette.

Heavy smoking appeared to have caused the boy’s brain to shrink and could cause other health problems later, Sirait said, according to Earth Times.

“He needs to be in a smoking-free environment so that he doesn’t start smoking again,” Sirait said.

Anti-smoking advocates say Indonesia’s tobacco industry markets its products to children, according to the Globe.

Popeater reports -

Though she teased the Twitterverse with photos of a spiked dress two weeks ago, Kim Kardashian shocked everyone when she released the first image of her upcoming Prestige Magazine cover on her blog today. Sporting the same spiked dress and flanked on either side by oiled-up naked male models, it’s pretty clear she’s having some fun showing off her sexier side.

“Remember those pics I posted of me wearing that fab spiked dress by The Blonds!? Well I can now reveal it was for an exclusive shoot with Prestige magazine in Hong Kong!!! This might be one of my most risque covers to date!” the reality starlet posted on her blog early Thursday.

She also wrote that more images were coming. “I have two covers and I’ll be sharing the second cover and the whole spread tomorrow, so make sure you check back.”

The Huffington Post reports -

Since the Emmy ceremony, I have been going back and forth about whether or not I should compose this letter. I try hard in my daily life not to engage in uncomfortable situations regarding race. But sometimes it’s very difficult to find other reasons that better explain why certain events play out the way they do. It is impossible for me to ignore the published statistics regarding the number of people of color mentioned, celebrated or honored in the history of the televised Emmys. Up to and including this year, there have been only 53 non-white actors nominated for emmys out of nearly 1,000 possible nominations in the top four acting categories for drama and comedy.

I’ve worked in television nearly all of my professional life, and that statistic is quite sobering to me. And to add injury to my already sensitive nerve endings a picture of Rutina Wesley from True Blood, who attended this year’s Emmys, had a caption that read: “Regina King enters the 62nd Emmys.” No, I wasn’t there. Mistakes happen, right? Well after a few “mistakes” of how people of color are portrayed in the Hollywood media, I decided it was important to say something about how things go down in Hollywood.

The initial pull on my heart strings was not seeing the veteran Sesame Street actress Alaina Reed Hall included in this year’s memoriam. I know I am taking it somewhat personally because of the history I shared with her, but then I stopped to think about the fact that she was on Sesame Street for 12 years, a show that is an American institution. People of all ages and generations have seen and enjoyed this highly influential television show. You have to admit, to not recognize her contribution to television baffles the mind. I first wondered, maybe I had turned my head quickly and missed seeing Alaina’s picture scroll past the screen or she was mentioned later. But no such luck.

Associated Press reports -

Ne-Yo says T.I. has had many chances — and it’s time he gets his act together.

After T.I. was arrested in a drug case, Ne-Yo called him one of the smartest people in the music industry.

“I just feel that he makes a lot of poor decisions when it comes to the people that he surrounds himself with,” Ne-Yo told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday night.

T.I. was taken into custody Wednesday with his wife Tameka “Tiny” Cottle on suspicion of possessing methamphetamines after police pulled over their Maybach in West Hollywood. They were released on $10,000 bail Thursday.

The arrest occurred while T.I. is on three years probation in a weapons case.

Ne-Yo said he’s not familiar with the company T.I. surrounds himself with, but “nine times out of 10 when he gets in trouble, it’s not him, it’s the people that he’s with.”

T.I. was poised to have a major comeback.

He stars in the nation’s No. 1 movie, the heist thriller “Takers,” recently married his longtime girlfriend and was wrapping up a new album. But now there are questions about whether he’s returning to the music charts — or prison.

Ne-Yo says it’s time for the multiplatinum rapper to get his life together.

“You’ve been given a bunch of different chances,” Ne-Yo said. “Now is the time to really go, you know I get it, all right, I get it.”

50 Cent got on twitter shortly after T.I. and Tiny’s arrest and had a suggeston about how the couple should handle the stuation.

Even though they’re officially not a couple, Trina may have to reason to start worrying…I’m hearing that NBA baller Kenyon Martin is dating ex-Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland.

Acording to one of Kenyon’s buddies:

“Kenyon and Kelly have gone on a few dates, and are taking things slow . . . They want to see how things go before they officially come out to the [public].”

Hello Beautiful -