When Simon Cowell was plotting a U.S version of his international hit series The X-Factor, one of his dreams was to land pop superstar Mariah Carey as a judge on the show. However, when the show came to be, Carey was pregnant with twins and unable to make Simon’s dream come true. Now, several months later the new mother of two may be ready to join the show.
After initially announcing that Mariah Carey would appear as a guest mentor on an episode of the show, Simon Cowell and company are now hinting that Carey could join The X-Factor full time. E Online reports that Cowell and Carey are in talks about adding Carey to the show as a full time mentor to the contestants vying for the show’s five million dollar grand prize.
Carey’s role as a mentor would likely be in cooperation with one of the current The X-Factor judges, either Cowell himself or Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger or L.A Reid as the premise has each of the judges acting as a mentor for a particular group of selected singers or groups. The mentor aids in song choice and presentation for their group throughout the season.
The choice of judges on The X-Factor has been a fraught process. While Cowell pursued Carey before she had to pass due to pregnancy, Cowell’s ex-American Idol co-star Paula Abdul was added only after her own show, Live to Dance, was cancelled by CBS. Nicole Scherzinger had initially been cast as one of the show’s hosts, alongside Brit host Steve Jones, but then moved to the judges table after Fox decided to fire Cheryl Cole, a judge on the U.K edition of The X-Factor.
The very public firing of Cole, after the show had begun its audition phase, and the various reasons given, led to much tabloid speculation about trouble behind the scenes of what Fox expects to be a fall blockbuster reality franchise. Whether Mariah Carey signs on full time and regardless of the behind the scenes tumult, The X-Factor is set to debut on Fox September 21st.