Mariah Carey now the most overpaid reality show judge of all the overpaid reality show judges

While it would have been gauche for Fox head Kevin Reilly to show off the sticker on his just-purchased, vintage Mariah Carey (used, some alignment issues), TMZ reveals that the price of singing competition bragging rights now hovers at $18 million—the amount that it will take to keep Carey on or at least near a judge's chair for one full season of American Idol. The deal makes Carey TV's highest-paid pop star pretending to mentor the far younger women angling to replace her, dwarfing the exiting Jennifer Lopez's $12 million, and similarly outpacing both Christina Aguilera ($10 million) and Britney Spears ($16 million). Of course, Carey's fee was calculated at the going rate of $10,000 per every version of "Vision Of Love" she'll be asked to listen to without having a nervous breakdown or hurling her oversized Coca-Cola cup at the nearest production assistant, so maybe it's fair after all. Nevertheless, the season hasn't even started filming yet, and already rumors are starting of Carey behaving like a rude, entitled diva while guesting on the show in the past, but surely this very generous gift will have a humbling effect.