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" Nick Cannon has suggested that his wife Mariah Carey is unlikely to become an American Idol judge. Carey has emerged as a frontrunner for American Idol&amp;#039;s judging panel following the departures of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez last week. Randy Jackson is also rumored to be moved into a mentoring role on the show.   Cannon has now confirmed that American Idol bosses have reached out directly to Carey in recent days. &amp;quot;Everybody wants to talk to her,&amp;quot; the America&amp;#039;s Got Talent host told TMZ. He went on to play down expectations that Carey will actually become an American Idol judge. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t know if they can afford Mariah Carey. That&amp;#039;s a lot of money,&amp;quot; Cannon quipped. &amp;quot;If they gave J-Lo $20 million, they might have to double that!... You never know, it&amp;#039;s one of [those] things, she&amp;#039;s got an album coming out so there&amp;#039;s promotional stuff [she has to deal with].&amp;quot; On Sunday (July 15), Aretha Franklin joined the possible judging candidates when she spoke of her desire for a role on American Idol. American Idol bosses are apparently looking to downsize the salaries for next season after paying Lopez between $15m and $20m. Watch Mariah Carey&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;We Belong Together&amp;#039; music video below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/american-idol/news/a393547/american-idol-cant-afford-mariah-carey-says-nick-cannon/>