Mariah Carey to be Judge on American Idol

The past few months have been filled with speculation regarding the new judges for American Idol’s upcoming 12th season. With the departure of Jennifer Lopez, the show has been looking for another female artist to take her place. Today the speculation came to an end, when the head of programmer at Fox announced that Mariah Carey had struck a deal with the network and would be joining the cast. At the same event, Mariah Carey stated “I am so excited to be joining Idol. I can’t wait to get started.”

American Idol has been searching for two new judges following the departure of last season’s judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. Their departures left the show with only a single judge (Randy Jackson) and two empty seats. The arrival of Mariah Carey to the show is just another sign of the competition heating up between Fox’s American Idol, NBC’s “The Voice and Fox’s “X Factor.” Christina Aguilera is starring as a coach on NBC’s The Voice, while Britney Spears is currently a judge on “The X-Factor.”

Despite Mariah Carey joining the judging panel, the show is still short of one judge. Other judges are expected to be announced as early as next week. American Idol has been suffering a decline in ratings, due to competition and the loss of younger viewers. The average age of American Idol viewers jumped to 50 years old last season, while the show’s viewership ratings fell by 23%. Some critics have argued that Mariah Carey is too old to attract the younger crowd that Idol is so desperately lacking, while others feel that she will provide a boost to the viewership.

Aside from the judge’s, Idol is also trying to stir up hype for the show with a few changes. The most notable of these changes involves the “American Idol Small Town Audition Bus Tour.” The bus tour involves a mobile recruitment effort that will travel to 10 small towns across the country.

At this time its too early to say whether or not Mariah’s addition to the show will yield positive results, however we’re excited to see how it goes.