To quote the hit Queen song, “Another one bites the dust.” The bestselling female artist of all time, Mariah Carey, has announced she is leaving American Idol after being a judge for only one year.
Mariah confirmed the news via a tweet from her publicist: “W/ global success of ‘Beautiful’ (#1 in 30+ countries so far) @MariahCarey confirms world tour & says goodbye 2 Idol.”
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This comes three weeks after longtime Idol judge Randy Jackson announced his departure from the show that made him a household name: “After 12 years … I have decided it is time to leave after this season. I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry. It’s been a life changing opportunity.”
As the tweet mentions, Carey is heading out on a world tour starting on October (which is the same thing Jennifer Lopez did after she left Idol), as well as “putting the finishing touches on her much anticipated forthcoming album, headlining the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular and appearing in Lee Daniel’s The Butler, opening in August,” according to her representative.
FOX and production company FremantleMedia released a join statement: “Mariah Carey is a true global icon — one of the most accomplished artists on the planet — and we feel extremely fortunate that she was able to bring her wisdom and experience to the American Idol contestants this season. We know she will remain an inspiration to Idol hopefuls for many seasons to come.”
This announcement shouldn’t come as a surprise, though with the rumors that FOX was going to fire the entire judging panel, she probably figured it’s be better to leave on her terms than to have it seem like she was forced out (a similar move used by other judges in the past).
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With both Randy and Mariah gone, that now leaves only Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban. In a recent interview, the country singer told the AP, “I have no official information of anything. I’m pretty much in the same boat as everybody else here with the rumors that have been floating around. I don’t know anything more about what’s happening next season.”
Rumors and speculation have been rampant lately on who the new judges will be for season 13. The rumor most talked about is that former Idol contestants will be hired (either just one or for the entire panel), with Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson and Adam Lambert’s names being brought up. Kelly’s team has confirmed it’s not true: “Kelly will not be a judge on Idol.” But other reports have surfaced saying Jennifer has signed or is about to sign a contract, though nothing is official at this point. And I’m sure no announcements will be made until closer to the start of filming in September.
What do you think of this announcement? Are you glad Mariah Carey’s leaving Idol, or were you wanting her to stick around for another season?
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(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
