Mariah Carey To Replace Jennifer Lopez For Season 12 Of ‘American Idol’

Mariah Carey is officially a judge on the long running television series, 'American Idol.' The sensational crooner will be joining fellow judge Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest on Season 12, which will air January 2013.

"I'm so excited to be joining 'Idol.' I wanted to be there today and I wish I could've been there myself to tell you," Carey said after Kevin Reilly, president of Fox Entertainment, placed her on speaker phone during the Television Critic's Association Summer Press Tour. "It happened really quickly. I can't wait to get started in a couple months. Everybody have a great TCA and I will see you in January."

The mother-of-two released a statement shortly afterwards, "As a singer, songwriter and producer, it's going to be fun and rewarding to help find new talent and give back with 'American Idol,'" she expressed. "I'm currently in the studio working on my new album and its first single, 'Triumphant,' which will be out early next month. I can't wait to channel my creative energy as a part of this show which is a massive global phenomenon."

Reilly remained mum on next season's AI, especially on whether long-time judge Randy Jackson will remain in his current role. His silence might just convince a few more people to tune in.

"We finished the show at the top again -- Phil Phillips went to gold faster than any other 'Idol' in the history of the show -- but our ratings were down," Reilly said. "Not being the only game in town now we needed to keep things fresh. We had a dialogue with everyone on the bench. We have the biggest names in the business interested in doing the job. It's going to be a matter of finding the right chemistry and making a deal. Randy has been working with Mariah for a long, long time. Randy was instrumental in doing this deal."

Jennifer Lopez, 42, decided to part from "American Idol" to focus on her family and other aspects of her career, not over a salary increase as was previously reported.

"I could do Idol for the rest of my life," Lopez said "but that would be giving up a bunch of other things ... I have my movies and my music and my this and my that. It all kind of worked together for a while, but then it gets more complicated."