TMZ is reporting that an announcement was just made at the TV Critics Association Summer Press tour in Beverly Hills. The newest judge on American Idol is…

Mariah Carey!

The 42-year-old singer is rumored to have signed a deal worth $12 million for her first year…  which is the same salary that Jennifer Lopez made in her first season with the show.

MC has new music on the way, so this is the PERFECT place and audience to advertise her “comeback” to music.

Her husband Nick Cannon makes $70,000 per episode as host of America’s Got Talent, so these competitions are pretty good for the bank account in the Cannon/Carey household…