Mariah Carey Signs As American Idol Judge

Mariah Carey has officially signed as a judge for the next season of American Idol, it has been revealed.

And the Grammy-winning diva is reported to be picking up a cool £9.6m for her work on the hugely popular US reality show - which [uuid=efe21c42-f702-45c9-8a05-9f448046fb25]Jennifer Lopez andSteven Tyler.

She will make her on-screen debut on the show in January, but will begin filming auditions later this year.

The 42-year-old said: "I am so excited to be joining Idol. This kind of all just happened really quickly. I can't wait to get started in the fall... and I will see you in January."

Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said Mariah was "the biggest recording artist that any of these (talent) shows has ever had".

And he added that she was the "artist that many of these contestants have tried to emulate, have tried some of the songs, have tried to hit the notes".

The announcement was made to the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Beverly Hills yesterday, with the audience being played a recording of a phone call between Mariah and Reilly.

The singer said: "I am so excited to be joining Idol.

"I wanted to be there today and I wish I could have been there myself to tell you. I can't wait to get started in a couple months."

Mariah has previously worked as a mentor on Idol, when contestants in the seventh season performed covers of her hits.

We reported at the weekend that Mariah was in the frame for the job.