Fade In and Fade Out Background Colour

Question:
How to fade in/out background colour on hover

$(document).ready(function(){

$(".jcarousel-skin-tango .jcarousel-item").hover(function() {
$(this).animate({backgroundColor: "#bbccff"}, "slow");

}, function () {
$(this).animate({backgroundColor: "#ffffff"}, "slow");
});

});

// Opacity instead of colour. However, transition not too good in IE?

$(document).ready(function(){

$(".jcarousel-skin-tango .jcarousel-item").hover(function() {
$(this).animate({opacity: '1'}, "slow");

}, function () {
$(this).animate({opacity: '0.75'}, "slow");
});

});

// Background image as opposed to colour?
// For example this could be used to allow a different levels of transparent background image fade in and out

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