"Mariah Carey is finalizing a deal to join Fox’s ‘American Idol’ as a new judge," writes our friend Nellie Andreeva at Deadline.com, adding, "I hear Carey would command a salary of more than $17 million for next season, which would set a new record for talent on a reality series, eclipsing the paycheck of ‘Idol‘s’ Jennifer Lopez."

Andreeva continues, "I hear Fox moved quickly to secure Carey, who was previously courted for the network’s other singing competition, Simon Cowell’s The X Factor, as Idol has to set its taped auditions."