Query: American Idol (season 8) had at least one female judge.

Relevant passages:
Kara DioGuardi <=SEP=> Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi ( -LSB- ˈkærə_diːoʊ-ˈɡwɑːrdi -RSB- born December 9 , 1970 ) is an American singer-songwriter , record producer , music publisher , A&R executive , composer and TV personality . She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre . DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists ; sales of albums on which her songs appear exceed 160 million worldwide . DioGuardi is a Grammy and Emmy-nominated writer . She 's a 2011 NAMM Music For Life Award winner , 2009 NMPA Songwriter Icon Award winner , 2007 BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year , and has received 20 BMI Awards for co-writing the most performed songs on the radio .   DioGuardi served as a judge on American Idol for its eighth and ninth seasons . In 2008 , she was appointed to the position of executive vice president of talent development at Warner Bros. . Records , and has signed acts such as Jason Derülo and Iyaz . In 2011 , she was a head judge on the Bravo singer-songwriter competition series Platinum Hit .

Paula Abdul <=SEP=> Paula Julie Abdul ( -LSB- ˈæbduːl -RSB- born June 19 , 1962 ) is an American singer-songwriter , voice actress , dancer , choreographer , actress and television personality . She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 before rising to prominence in the 1980s as a highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era . Abdul later scored a string of pop music hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s . Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her with Diana Ross for seventh among the female solo performers who have topped the chart . She won a Grammy for `` Best Music Video -- Short Form '' for `` Opposites Attract '' and twice won the `` Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography '' .   After her initial period of success , Abdul suffered a series of setbacks in her professional and personal life . She saw renewed fame and success as an original judge on American Idol in the 2000s , which she left after the eighth season . She went on to star on CBS 's short-lived television series Live to Dance , which lasted one season in 2011 , and was subsequently a judge on the first season of the American version of The X Factor along with her former American Idol co-judge Simon Cowell , the creator and producer of the show . She was also a guest judge on the All-Stars edition of Dancing with the Stars in 2012 and the tenth season of So You Think You Can Dance in 2013 , and more recently became a permanent judge for that series along with the Australian version of the show for its 2014 revival .

American Idol (season 8) <=SEP=> The eighth season of American Idol premiered on January 13 , 2009 , and concluded on May 20 , 2009 . Judges Simon Cowell , Paula Abdul , and Randy Jackson continued to judge the show 's contestants , along with Ryan Seacrest as host . The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the Idol panel . It was also Abdul 's final season as a judge . Kris Allen , a native of Conway , Arkansas , was announced the winner of the competition on May 20 , 2009 , defeating runner-up Adam Lambert after nearly 100 million votes . Kris Allen is the only married winner of the competition at the time of his victory . This was the second season where both of the final two contestants had been in the bottom three or two at least once before the finale , with the first being season three .   The eighth season saw numerous changes to the format of the show . There were 36 semi-finalists instead of 24 , and thirteen finalists instead of twelve , nine contestants chosen by the public and four by the judges in a wild card round . Another addition was the `` save , '' which was used on the top seven results show to veto Matt Giraud 's elimination .   Seven contestants from this season were signed to record deals . The signed artists are Kris Allen , who was then signed to 19 Entertainment/Jive Records . In addition to Allen , Adam Lambert , Danny Gokey , Allison Iraheta , Lil Rounds , Anoop Desai and Michael Sarver .