HEADLINES

Mariah Carey hired as ‘American Idol’ judge

After a week of speculation, pop diva Mariah Carey has been hired by Fox to be a judge for American Idol’s twelfth season. Carey is expected to receive a salary of about $12 million.

Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly gave his thoughts behind the casting decision. “It’s the biggest recording artist than any of these [singing competition] shows have ever had. It’s an artist many of these contestants have tried to emulate. [The deal] only concluded only hours ago. Not being the only game in town we need to keep things fresh.”

Carey is one of the biggest artists around, selling over 200 million records worldwide. Carey’s manager, Randy Jackson, is likely going to remain as a judge on the panel, but the search is on for his male counterpart. Idol is trying to cut costs, so their third judges will probably be a cheaper option.

It will be interesting to see if Carey, another diva like former judge Jennifer Lopez, will be able to help Idol’s declining ratings.

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About Brittanyt

Brittany Tenpenny has wanted to be a writer for as long as she could remember. Aside from brief fantasies of pop stardom and becoming the female Indiana Jones, Brittany was dead set on writing. She pursued her dream all through her academic career, becoming a staff writer for "The Argo" at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey where she graduated at the top of her class with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Last year, Brittany's fictional pieces were published in the e-book "A Calm Whisper."

Brittany is now a graduate student at Rowan University and is currently working on a novel.