Nick Cannon Says American Idol ‘Can’t Afford’ Mariah Carey

After X Factor judge Simon Cowell landed Britney Spears for a reported $20 million per season the rumor mill began heating up with talks of a Mariah Carey judging spot on American Idol. Now it’s Mariah’s very own hubby Nick Cannon who is speaking out about Mariah’s involvement with the show.

According to Cannon during a discuss with TMZ:

“I don’t know if they can afford Mariah Carey. That’s a lot of money. If they gave JLo $20 million, they might have to double that!”

Jennifer Lopez actually made less than $20 million per season but if Nick Cannon was being serious the $40 million price tag needed to grab the attention of Mariah Carey might be too much for show producers to part with.

Ironically it might be American Idol’s own fault if they go after Mariah Carey and can’t land her, after all they were the show that placed such a massive value on their judging panel. Even so a $40 million payday would still be far less than the reported $500 million Simon Cowell is being paid for producing and starring as a judge on Fox’s newer music show X Factor along with the creation of several other Sony based projects.

The real question may be whether fans want Mariah Carey in the judging seat, while she is a well-respected singer and one of the top-selling artists of all time there is a question about her relevance in today’s pop music market. Mariah Carey hasn’t had a hit in years and American Idol is all about creating the biggest stars of today. Mariah’s last No. 1 pop charts single was 2008’s “Touch My Body” and before that it was 2005’s “Don’t Forget About Us.”

In the meantime @Billboard seems to think a Mariah Carey spot on AI is possible:

Report: @MariahCarey is “in serious talks” to judge @AmericanIdol. Check out the details: bit.ly/Mptq3b

— Billboard(@billboard) July 13, 2012