Could Jennifer Lopez’s appearance on the American Idol finale be part of a greater plan to get her to return to the judges’ table?

As previously reported, the 43-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress will perform on the Fox reality singing competition’s season 12 finale on May 16.

Lopez will allegedly perform her new single “Live It Up” from her eighth album. The singer’s album is being released through RedOne’s 2101 label that’s distributed by Capitol Music, which signed her to a big new record deal.

Lopez’s return, according to Deadline.com, is reportedly part of the network’s master plan to bring Lopez back to the show next year after the unsuccessful addition of Mariah Carey this season.

”Fox is chasing her. They want her back. She has not made her mind up about it. She is on the fence,” a source told Deadline.com. “They wanted her to replace Mariah. There was no way she was going to do that. They started talking to her hard about next year. She really liked doing it but big question if she should do it again.”