American Idol Shakeup, Mariah Carey 15M Deal, Adam Lambert Low Budget Option

By On 07/21/2012 · 310 Comments · In Adam Lambert, American Idol, Randy Jackson

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Brace yourselves kids. Entertainment sites such as The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, TV Line et all will be playing a tit for tat game, in an attempt to out-scoop each other, until the new American Idol judges panel is officially announced.

It’s tedious, with new reports constantly coming, usually adding very little to what we already know. But there’s usually that one new nugget of detail that has me reluctantly creating a brand new post.

Tonight, on the heels of The Wrap reporting that Mariah Carey is thisclose to a deal to sit on the judges table, Entertainment Weekly weighs in.

While Mariah Carey is still deep in negotiations with TPTB, the list of secondary members of the wish list according to EW, include Janet Jackson, Katy Perry (Uhmmm. She’s already said no), will.i.am, Kanye West, and Fergie. I think the operative phrase here is wish list. Doesn’t sound like Idol has reached out to any of these folks yet.

Sources say Mariah would probably score a paycheck on par with Jlo’s. Negotiations started at around $12 million a season, the same as Jlo’s first year, though will probably end up closer to her second-year rate of $15 million.

EW sources also expect Randy Jackson to stay put, especially if Mimi (he manages her) comes on board.

EW’s source claims that FOX has tried for weeks to convince Jlo to stay on another year, but it’s unlikely that more than one “mega-million-dollar diva” will wind up on the panel.

This report suggests that FOX wants Mariah to sign for less than Jlo’s current demand of 17 million dollars, while the Wrap reports Mariah would score closer to the higher number.

EW is also reporting that for the 3rd seat, FOX is considering Adam Lambert as a lower budget option and consider him somebody who could bring a sharp edge that’s been missing from the panel since Simon Cowell left two years ago.

Finally, despite reports about executives looking to cut Idol’s budget, that whatever cost cutting measures are taken, Idol’s overall production quality will remain unchanged.

Via Entertainment Weekly

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  • http://twitter.com/Jablea Jablea

    The “revive thier career” meme is an Idol board only thing too.  If they are not an artist I follow I have no idea if they are doing good/bad/washed up/rebooted etc.  You may have to put up with it on fan boards but for the artist themselves probably not so much.

    I’ve seen JLo many more times in the movies than I heard her sing and I hardly know anything about Tyler other than his daughter was in movies.  And I could have sworn “Moves like Jagger” was on my radio long before Levine did whatever they do in those red high chairs on the Voice. If I wasn’t an on-line fan I’d think that judging was Primo!  After all Idol always has current people on, on dang the last several years the judges have been on so they must be current too.

    The introduction is not going to say so and so is here to revive their career.  On the contrary the news is all about how these people can help Idol, not the other way around.

  • alterego

    I’m not quite sure how on point on he was, since the girl that he voted to eliminate – ended up winning.  And I remember all the judges over riding him. And with PR, it’s the judges that chose the winner, not the public. 

    Instead of opening his heart to someone who was very different than him, Adam chose to go with the urban guy who did the glittery, over the top design.

  • Tess

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nt5In5UULI
    Here’s the Project Runway judges deliberation.  I, personally, don’t think that Adam was the lone wolf when it came to who he thought was the worst…but others may think he was odd man out that night though I don’t get that vibe at all.  Besides, for me, all those outfits were pretty darn horrible…I was embarrassed for the band that had to wear them.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/PVEFG2TOUIXSROKUSO2O2DOWWE Taylor

    Adam didn’t close his heart to anyone on PR. lol
    He simply answered the question that Heidi asked him, “Who was the worst of the three WE didn’t like”. Adam said Anya had the worst designs that week, but then said that all three in the bottom were “pretty much neck and neck”. He did not “vote to have her eliminated” and the judges didn’t have to over ride him. Anya was in the bottom three for all four judges that week.

    The two favorites of ALL four of the judges were the designs from Josh (the urban guy) and Viktor. Heidi agreed with Adam, she liked Josh’s outfit the best that week. You might want to go back and watch this episode because how you are saying things went down, didn’t happen at all! :)

  • Anonymous

    His ass was practically hanging out of his pants!  Go back and look at her design and tell me what part of it relates to her caribbean asthetic.  It was a complete pos and Adam was only judging this one outfit, not her work to date.  I guess should have opened his heart to sub-par sewing and ill-fitting clothing.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah the girl ended up winning but only because the judges gave her a second chance.  She was the worst of the finalists cause she didn’t have anything finished.  By the way:
    Pretty Little Liars just won Best TV Drama at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards
    Lucy Hale Best Actress in a Drama.

  • http://twitter.com/shoriagirl Shoriagirl

    Simon Cowell plays piano.  

  • Anonymous

    Judes:

    For me my interest is always in the idols on the show -so the only interest I have in the judging panel no matter who they are is -can they choose good idols for the show!! If I don’t like the judges it doesn’t make me not tune in to the show I either mute them or fast forward their comments if I have recorded the show. If the contestants themselves aren’t good -no judge will hold the majority of viewers for all the season.

    ITA! When Adam was asked about JLo and Steven as judges, he said, “.. in the end AI will always be about the kids/contestants and not the judges, doesn’t matter whether there’s JLo or Steve in there.. it’s all about the contestants. Viewer at home turn on the TV to see the kids singing”.

  • Anonymous

    Nina Garcia and Heidi Klum expressed their delight in working with him, and they were not that kind to some other judges.  In fact, Nina very recently tweeted her support for Adam as an Idol judge saying he is smart, talented and the camera loves him.

  • Anonymous

    he played the tambourine with Queen

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