Kara DioGuardi

One of the most successful songwriters of the early millennium, Kara DioGuardi rose from the ranks of Billboard magazine's advertising department to pen literally hundreds of hit singles for some of the biggest names in pop and rock music. Among the 46 albums with Top 10 credentials to feature her songs were releases by Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, the Jonas Brothers and Carrie Underwood, to name just a few. DioGuardi's Midas touch reaped the music industry's biggest honors, including multiple Grammy nominations and virtually every songwriting award available from the venerable music publisher BMI. Her grip on the American popular music scene grew even tighter in 2008 when she was announced as the fourth judge on the reality series juggernaut, "American Idol" (Fox, 2002-16).