Charles Sykes/REX; Robert Pitts/Landov
"No one will ever be Simon … It's impossible," DioGuardi, 39, said Friday on Sirius XM radio's Morning Mash Up program. "He does things that no one has ever done. He's created this tremendous character who is funny, still has a human side, but is just blatantly honest."
She added, "What I liked about Harry as a mentor this past season is he is put so much time into helping those contestants, and I think he really did help them."
The idea of potentially not replacing Cowell – of going back to three judges, as it was during first seven seasons – doesn't sit right with DioGuardi.
"People have gotten used to four judges," she says. "When I first came on, it was definitely, 'Oh she's taking over Paula Abdul, as the third judge,' which was not the case. I was never there to take Paula's position. I do think that having four judges works. It's really about getting someone who has a lot of experience in music to replace Simon."
Not that Cowell won't be missed. He most certainly will be. "I always had mad respect for him, and I think he's really brilliant," says DioGuardi. "The first year was hard, you know. I was trying to be like 'Let me in, let me in.' I was like the outsider. This year, I just enjoyed him so much on the panel, and I thought he was so good to me, very supportive, and I thanked him a lot for that." –Tim Nudd
