Mariah Carey To Join ‘American Idol’ Judges’ Panel Next Season

It's official! After weeks of rumors and speculation, Mariah Carey has confirmed that she will be sitting in one of the judges' chairs during the next season of American Idol.

Of course, they couldn't just announce it in a normal, "send out a press release" kind of way. Oh no, they had to do it big. The announcement was made Television Critics Association summer tour in Beverly Hills during comments by Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly about the exit of Idol judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.

He talked about how they had secured someone very recently, who many singers on Idol had tried to emulate in the past. He then put a phone call on speaker, and those in attendance heard Mariah say,

I am so excited to be joining Idol. First of all, I wanted to be there today and I wish I could've been there to tell you, but I think you know this all kind of just happened real quickly, so I can't wait to get started in a couple months.

I am actually kind of surprised! Just a few weeks ago, Carey's husband, Nick Cannon, told reporters that Idol would never be able to afford his wife.