Paula Abdul is excited to work alongside Kara DioGuardi. Forget the concern she showed before.

"This is gonna be a good thing. I'm really thrilled," Abdul told Perez Hilton, likely at the urging of American Idol producers. "For me, I'm excited as can be. I think this time around, it's gonna work adding a new judge. A lot of surprises are in store that are gonna make it more exciting to watch the show."

Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul are like total BFF.

The crazy judge said she brought up the idea of adding DioGuardi to the panel a few years ago. She's known the songwriter since 1999.

"I've been talking about her for years," Abdul said. "I hope the audience gets excited and accepts it. Sometimes its been hard when we've had four judges in the past. They always wanted four judges since the beginning. It'll be good to have two girls, and two guys. Kara's like a sister to me."