Mariah Carey perfect fit for Idol

Mariah Carey will "fit right in" on the American Idol judging panel, says the show's host Ryan Seacrest.

Mariah was recently confirmed to take the place of Jennifer Lopez on the hit TV talent show. Ryan has every confidence that the international superstar will create a buzz on the new series.

"Well, they're very different individuals. I think that Mariah will fit right in. She knows the rhythms off this kind of thing," he told the Hollywood Reporter.

"Jennifer had watched a lot of Idol; I'm not such how much Mariah has watched. Certainly, she's watched less of the show, which I think is fine. She's pretty open and she doesn't sugarcoat much, at least in my experience with her."

Ryan is also contributing to both the Today show and doing stories for NBC Sports. The 37-year-old has joked about how interviewing athletes differs from Hollywood stars.

"Olympic athletes are celebrities too, so there are similarities, though athletes are typically a lot taller," he laughed.

"We've been prepping for the Olympics for a while, as there's an enormous amount of knowledge and information to come up to speed on. We had three huge binders of info, countless meetings and briefings, and the folks at NBC Research are our friends."