Mariah Carey on ‘Idol’: She’ll Be Kooky, Wacky — But a Tough Judge, TV Experts Say
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mariah Carey– your new $18 million American Idol judge — has had her wacky moments.
But when she takes her chair in next season’s Idol, as one of the show’s three judges, 42-year-old Carey isn’t expected to be a particularly wacky judge, Idol experts say.
Instead, she will be — if anything — hard, critical of contestants with her high bar of singing skills.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}What do the experts say?
“What I’m hoping from her, is that she has the potential to be a little bit of a villainess,” Lyndsey Parker, Idol beat reporter and expert for Yahoo!, told Celebuzz, hours after Carey was announced as the new judge.
“I don’t see her being like Steven [Tyler] and J.Lo and telling everyone they’re nice and wonderful and beautiful. I see her as being as kind of a tough broad who really shoots straight.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Parker noted about the prospect of seeing a wacky Carey:
Carey’s name was floated for weeks as the next likely Idol judge — and here we are. Carey, one of music’s best selling performers of all time, is set to reportedly earn at least $17 million for next season, the Huffington Post has reported — more than her predecessor J.Lo made.
It is her first major foray into the public spotlight for Carey since having twins last year, Moroccan and Monroe. Carey told 20/20 last year that it was a difficult pregnancy, at 40 years of age.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Need a freshener-up on a few of Carey’s wackier moments?
In 1997, Carey said she feels as if butterflies follow her around, while promoting her CD, “Butterfly.”
In a 2011 appearance on HSN, Carey was particularly loose, cracking wise and waxing emotional after having babies. Carey said she was going to “have a fragrant moment” — and been trying to dress “camouflagian” while pregnant. Carey also said she was 47 weeks pregnant — an apparent attempt at exaggerating how intense her pregnancy was.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Carey memorably described some of her pieces as “kind of pow.”
Not Kooky For ”Years”
Another inveterate Idol watcher, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Shirley Halperin, who wrote the book American Idol: Celebrating 10 Years (Your Offical Backstage Pass), describes Carey as not so much a wild card now, as a reasonable fit for the show’s aging fanbase.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“She hasn’t had really insane behavior in years,” Halperin told Celebuzz.
“I don’t think we can expect someone who is kooky for the sake of being kooky. Mariah has a very quirky personality that doesn’t come out in the public too often. You see it come out a little on her Twitter or cutesey inteviews with Nick Cannon.
“But we really haven’t seen her in this role yet,” Halperin added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“She brings credibility, she brings devotion, [and] she should be a really good fit,” Halperin said. “She can be kooky — she can be like the Paula [Abdul] of the panel. We really don’t know what we’re going to get, which I think is kind of cool.”
Catch one of Carey’s wackier moments — from 2011, showing her jewelry and clothing products on HSN. Do you think Mariah is going to be a wacky judge?