And Randy will take all the credit. Because he's worked with her. Not that he's ever mentioned that before. What up, dawg! (And with that, the hopes of getting him out drop by a lot.)

She'll supposedly get $17m for the season, which is both a giant raised middle finger towards Jennifer (as that's what the amount-with-raise that got her tossed) and a stupid decision for a show which was supposedly looking to save money anywhere they could. Mariah's paycheck pretty much means you can forget about opening up the song catalog unless you ultra-lowball the other panelists -- and probably even then. It's a singing show: why pay for new music?

I'll reserve all judgement on her ability to pick artists, offer criticism, and render fair verdicts until I see her in action. But a lot will depend on who they seat next to her. And while she might ultimately wind up as a strong choice (it's possible), they'd better get what they paid for -- because gawds, did they ever pay.