14 DAY TRIAL // As speculated for some weeks now, Mariah Carey is one of the two new judges on American Idol, season 12. The diva herself has confirmed the news, while speculation has it she signed on the dotted line for a salary that makes her the highest paid judge on reality TV of all time.
The official announcement was made at the TV Critics Association Summer Press tour in Beverly Hills, TMZ reports, with Mariah taking to her Twitter to confirm it.
“It's gonna be so much fun working on @AmericanIdol. As a singer-songwriter, I'm excited to help find and nurture new talent. LYM!,” she wrote.
While there's no doubt that she will bring a fresh perspective on the show, Mariah is also poised to make a lot of money from the start: word has it that her deal for just one season is for $17 or 18 million (€14.02 or 14.84 million), which literally makes her the highest paid judge on reality TV right now.
As we also noted the other day, with this kind of money, Mariah leaves fellow judges Britney Spears (on X Factor) and Jennifer Lopez (before her, on AI) well in the dust.
Speaking of Lopez, when she announced she would not return to American Idol for another season, she made it clear that this wasn't a question of money but rather of time, of which she had very little.
She said she had a new tour and her acting career to think of, so AI had to come in second, which is why she dropped out.
As a side note, Steven Tyler also left the show to focus on his band.
JLo is the first to speak out in support of Mariah as a judge, telling E! News she should do just fine as long as she remembers that the show isn't about her but about the contestants.
“There is pressure as far as the live shows, but you know what? Just remember you're there at the end of the day to help those contestants grow and to get to the end and to get to that finale,” Jennifer said.
“And whenever I thought about that it always made my job a little less pressure-filled and a little easier, because it's not about you. It wasn't about me, it was about them. It was about helping them and that always made it a lot of fun for me. I'm going to miss it a lot,” she added.
“[Mariah is] a musician for a long time she has a lot of experience. And it's that experience you offer them at the end of the day, the contestants just want to get better and grow through the process,” Jennifer continued.
As for who might replace Tyler, Adam Lambert and Miley Cyrus are still strong contenders, insiders say.