(By Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune) There were times last year when Kara DioGuardi felt as if she had - to borrow a phrase - her pants on the ground.Yes, there was the bikini incident in which, in a prearranged stunt, the then-new "American Idol" judge finished a song alongside a contestant known as "bikini girl" and pulled open her dress to reveal her own two-piece swimsuit (and perfectly toned torso).