Respected TV critic at the press conference! Note the official FOX twitter account RT'd him.
EDIT: Here we are!
Quote:
It’s not just a sweet, sweet fantasy: They belong together. Yes indeed, after several days of intense speculation, Fox announced at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in Beverly Hills Monday that Mariah Carey has officially signed on as an American Idol judge for the show’s upcoming twelfth season.
Idol‘s executive producer Nigel Lythgoe weighed in on the very public search for new judges after a TCA press tour panel for fellow Fox reality program So You Think You Can Dance. “I would like to see the judges change every year. It’s horrible to be in this position where you guys [in the press] are asking, ‘Who’s it going to be?’ and there are thousands of names being thrown out,” said Lythgoe. “And it’s unfair on negotiations. You can’t negotiate with somebody in a public marketplace.”
As for Carey, she served as a guest mentor during Top 7 Week on Season 7 of Idol, resulting in a stellar night of music focused around the diva’s songbook that included David Cook’s “Always Be My Baby,” Jason Castro’s “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” Carly Smithson’s “Without You,” and Syesha Mercado’s “Vanishing.”
Carey had also been scheduled to serve as an advisor for Simon Cowell on Season 1 of his U.S. version of The X Factor, but was forced to cancel a trip to France to whittle down his roster of female solo contestants when Hurricane Irene grounded her plane in New York.
Carey’s addition to the Idol judges’ table comes in the wake of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler recently annoucning plans to exit Fox’s ratings behemoth after respective two-year stints on the panel. What’s more, Carey’s Idol gig creates something of a competitive conundrum in her own household: Husband Nick Cannon hosts NBC’s category competitor America’s Got Talent, which typically overlaps with Idol for a week or two in May.
Mariah Carey @MariahCarey
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! --MC
