Mariah Carey is Next American Idol Judge

Written by: Idol Fan Forum

The popular television show “American Idol” has a new judge, Mariah Carey. After weeks of rumors, the president of Fox’s entertainment Kevin Reilly confirmed the news at the Television Critic’s Association Summer Press Tour. How much is she getting paid? Carey will reportedly be earning $18 million for her judging skills; that’s $3 million more than fellow pop star Britney Spears will be getting for her judging duties on “The X Factor.”

On speaker phone at the event announcing the news, Mariah Carey told Reilly and the audience that she was excited to be “joining ‘Idol.’” She added, “”It happened really quickly. I can’t wait to get started in a couple months. Everybody have a great TCA and I will see you in January.”

Why Carey? While the show has been extremely popular, ratings were down, according to Reilly. In an effort to gain more ratings and “keep things fresh,” Reilly worked with Mariah for a long time in order to seal the deal.

Another reason why Reilly needed a new judge is because Season 12 of “American Idol” will be losing two judges. Judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are leaving the show, and it is not known whether Randy Jackson will return as a judge or a mentor. But apparently no one will be missing Lopez or Tyler. According to editor of bsideblog.com Ben Mandelker, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez didn’t add much excitement to the show. According to Mandelker, both shied away from being completely honest with contestants, most likely to avoid losing record sales or concert sales.

Details of how long Carey will stay on the show were also not revealed, however, according to FoxNews.com, she has the potential to be an “insightful judge, if she doesn’t go soft on the contestants.”