Pop star Mariah Carey is a new judge on American Idol.
July 24, 2012- The hit show American Idol has announced that Mariah Carey would join the show as one of the judges. She fills the diva spot on the show and removes any doubt, if any remained, that Jennifer Lopez would not be returning. Kevin Reilly the president of Fox Entertainment confirmed that Carey was joining the show.
Reilly was ecstatic about Carey joining the Idol team, but would not disclose how much the show would be paying her. Most accounts put that amount at $12 million for the first season. Carey was reportedly asking for over $17 million.
If the $12 million is correct, it would be the same salary that Lopez received for her first season. In her second season on the show, Lopez reportedly earned $15 million. That season the ratings for the show plummeted and unconfirmed reports are Lopez was told no when she requested an increase in pay.
Reilly said that now he feels 100% certain that Lopez has moved on. He said Idol had an excellent run with Lopez and Steven Tyler as judges and nobody pushed anyone away. Tyler recently announced he was leaving the show as a judge to focus more on his music group Aerosmith.
Carey said via a speakerphone that she was excited to be part of the Idol team. She apologized that she could not make it in person, but said everything took place so quickly. Carey has been mentioned previously as possibly being a judge and Idol founder Simon Cowell once said he wanted to hire her, but she was pregnant.
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