Ric Robertson Taking Paid Summer Hiatus From Movie Academy … 
‘The Big C’ Finale Airs On Showtime Tonight 
Obama Scandals Bring MSNBC 7-Year Low While Fox News Rises 
Ang Lee Departs FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ 
DreamWorks Eyes January For ‘Glimmer’ And Dylan … 
Warner Bros TV & ‘Smallville’ Co-Creators … 
How Many Times Does Seth MacFarlane Have To Say No To The … 
UPFRONTS 2013: TV Spinoffs’ Almost Perfect Year 
OSCARS: Animated Feature Rule Change 
Cannes: Relativity Sets ‘Hunger Games’ Liam … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: Billboard Awards Surge From 2012, … 
Cannes: Park Chan-wook’s ‘Sympathy For Mr. … 
Cannes: Stanley Weiser To Script ‘Three Graves … 
Yahoo CEO Foresees Big Opportunities To Sell Ads On Tumblr 
Disney, Lucasfilm Animation Prep ‘Star Wars … 
Cannes: Deadline Crashes Palais Forum With Costa Gavras, … 
Hammond On Cannes: Sun Comes Out As Parties, Deals And … 
Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio In Talks To Join ‘X … 
‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In … 
Specialty Box Office: ‘Frances Ha’ Triumphs As … 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $164.5M Global: Lower … 
EXCLUSIVE: I have learned that Mariah Carey is finalizing a deal to join Fox’s American Idol as a new judge. I hear Carey would command a salary of more than $17 million for next season, which would set a new record for talent on a reality series, eclipsing the paycheck of Idol‘s Jennifer Lopez.
Carey had been rumored as a potential new judge on the veteran Fox reality series, which is overhauling its panel coming off a season that saw ratings declines in a crowded marketplace and failed to land a best reality-competition Emmy nomination for the first time in the show’s history. Fox announced the departure of Steven Tyler, while fellow judge Lopez stated publicly that she would leave too.
Related: Fox Focus On New ‘Idol’ Judges After JLo Blows Off Best Gig Of Her Life
I hear Fox moved quickly to secure Carey, who was previously courted for the network’s other singing competition, Simon Cowell’s The X Factor, as Idol has to set its taped auditions.
American Idol was the first major reality series to bring star power to its judging panel with the hire of JLo two years ago. NBC’s The Voice then landed Christina Aguilera, while Fox’s X Factor brought in Britney Spears. Idol, which for years had the singing competition market for itself, now has to share the space with The Voice and X Factor.
Related: Fox Upfront Will Introduce Demi Lovato And Britney Spears As New ‘X Factor’ Judges
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
Loading ...
Dolly Parton would be excellent as would Tina Turner and Charo. yes, they are getting old, but they have great personalities and would provide lots of humor to the “too serious” judging.
That would be soooo gfeat if she does i! I would actually watch it!! I love Mariah Carey the BEST singer/songwriter in the world!
Um actually her career is fine.!
But i really don’t think this is true wanna hear i from the queen herself!
Mariah is fine.. anyone with talent can replace Puffy’s Fault and her inane useless comments. And no Puffy! We’d never have been subjected to her JLowness without him. Now bring on Charlie Sheen for the 3rd seat!
Mariah is way too good for AI, and $17 million is not enough, especially considering her talent, fan base, and record sales (even more recent ones). I prefer her as a singer and personality. I don’t want her overexposed with this dying show. I wish she would just be a mentor or even frequent contributor but not a judge.
They still don’t get it. What they don’t need is another nice judge encouraging lackluster performers at best. They need another Simon, if they can find one. Howard Stern might’ve worked but he’s got another gig.
It’s amazing how those old stars go to American Idol or Voice to save what’s left from their careers. Jlo, Aguilera, now Carey. It’s amazing what judge job do to your career. It did bring JLo from ashes to popularity. I think Jennifer was very stupid to leave that show. Now she may vanish again. And they should pay Mariah no more then 5-6 millions
She is the one who is forgotten by public and has no career in music right now. She needs it more that AI producers.
And STILL Madonna doesn’t need any rescue from those shows. After all those years she is still popular and goes on tour and releases albums. She recorded bad album. Next time hopefully it will be good. Madonna survived those stars of the 80-th!!! She survived JLo, Mariah, Aguilera, Britney… In few years Gaga will go to be judge on some show to save her career and Madonna will be touring as if nothing happened
I love Mariah, she would be the ultimate choice but i don’t want her to do it tho. But if she does, it’ll spike up the ratings and she’ll get PAID ! The Lambs would watch faithfully !!
She should be paying AI $17 million to promote her. Yuk!
You want to know what killed Idol?
When they allowed only AT&T customers to “power text” votes. What this resulted in is one smitten teenager being able to vote literally tens of thousands of times in the same space that a non-AT&T customer could vote perhaps 100 times using a phone.
People like myself who used to vote don’t bother anymore. Why should I work so hard only to have 2 hours of voting cancelled about by 5 minutes on a teenager’s cell phone?
They should limit each person to 10 votes. Then we will get winners who can actually sell records.
You nailed it! I hate their voting format. But the producers wet themselves every time Seacrust delivers the “new record” voting numbers on air. It’s so skewed toward the tweenies in braces, all voting at their slumber parties for the “cute one.” Gag. I will say that I’ve watched nearly every season. It’s a guilty pleasure, and once in awhile there’s some real talent to enjoy and root for. I don’t bother voting either, for the same reasons you cited. I stopped voting after season 2 (Clay vs. Ruben). And every year, it seems the show becomes more and more over-the-top, in terms of production value, over-use of echo and auto-tune effects (grrrr), wardrobe choices, back-up choirs/musicians, and cheesy group songs and duets. Just let the contestants sing — I want to hear their voice!
Overhaul? You still have Ryan Seacrud there. It’s over folks.
Hey, I would watch AI again in a heartbeat (haven’t since Daughtry was on) IF they snag Mariah! She is an amazing talent, I so love her music! I LUV MARIAH – her music is timeless!
Noooo!!! I don’t want Her to be a judge. And now i don’t want her if she is DEMANDING more money. JLO was perfect. Have Avril Lavigne do it
Yo. Dawg. Randy’s so old.edu. Off with him. Both the Lamberts would work, but then they couldn’t tour much. Parton’s way too sugar. Make Jimmy a judge.
YES!!!!!!! Having Jimmy Iovine as a judge is a PERFECT idea. His feedback and input as a coach this year was, for the most part, spot on. Now that viewers have seen him and know what he’s capable of, he would round out the judges’ table nicely. I’m not all that keen on Mariah as a judge, but she’s likely to be more interesting and articulate than Randy. But then, so would my cat, dawg….
It’s a natural choice, actually. She and Randy Jackson have been BFFs for years. Don’t expect to see them disagree too much.
i watch it for the kids singing..not the judges saying the same thing over and over year, after year.
Streisand, Parton, Campbell. That would be a trio.
That is an obscene amount of money to pay ANY of the judges for what is not considered REAL WORK. Firemen and police officers in parts of the country are doing REAL WORK for minimum wages – that is disgraceful.
Do not forget who Mariah Carey is ! She has sold more records and more number 1′s than any other female singer in history and still th this day no one can beat her. She make Sony music 1bil , got a record deal for 100mil. She beat Elvis and the beatles and Michael Jackson ! So know your research..! She deserves every dollar to the penny. Stop being a hater cause I doubt you sold that many records or sing like her. Get off my girl! #Hater! I’m MC’s number in fan ! Xoxox
American Idol needs more than superstar judges. It needs to elevate the entire American viewing audiences ability to recognize what truly gifted exceptional talent means.
So much of western global ideals are mediocre and base.
True ability in vocals, writing, performance is rare indeed.
Shirley Bassey,Amy Whinehouse, La Lupe, Tammy Wynette & George Jones, Winona Judd,
Edith Piaf… these are talents !And many many more.
AI is nothing more than burlesque…T and A, Botox and bling!
Educate yourself and start listening to WORLD music that treats the sense: Malcom McLaren, Astrud Ghilberto, any soundtrack from Ennio Morricone… Live!