American Idol Season 12 – Mariah Carey with 17 Million Reasons to Judge?

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The word is that Mariah Carey, the record breaking and chart topping diva/singer could be making her way to next season’s American Idol, its 12th for the singing competition on FOX, as a judge for a big payday, reportedly topping Jennifer Lopez’s previous deal. I don’t think anyone can deny Carey’s stature as a singer though she has had some rather odd public displays over the last several years, though I couldn’t imagine it would be too much more uncomfortable and bewildering than the later Paula Abdul years.

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Deadline brought word of the rumor of the potential addition of Carey to a panel of judges that will likely be completely revamped, with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler departing and the aforementioned Jennifer Lopez on several occasions at the very least hinting that she would not be returning next season. I, myself, am a product of the years that took Carey to super stardom, where either if you weren’t on her remix or if she wasn’t on yours, you weren’t hot. So, I’m somewhat of an unabashed fan though I recognize Carey probably carries many of the traits people like to knock when in several other stars/singers, the problem is that unlike most of them, Carey can and always has been able to actually sing. Needless to say, Carey would probably be considered a big gun in this situation, and is reportedly getting the dollars offer  - 17 million of them — to affirm that.

The “other” show associated to Simon Cowell (and also at FOX),  X-Factor, is also loading up for next season with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato, and tried to land Carey previously. As another aside, American Idol seems to be in the news everywhere this week, with former contestant and runner-up, Adam Lambert, being tagged to appear with Lucy Hale in a Halloween special episode of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars.