It was all love between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj when the “American Idol” judging panel sat down recently to discuss the upcoming season — despite reports that the two ladies have been snippy with each other since day one of filming.
Asked this week on “The View” how the current audition rounds are going, Minaj gave the audience a quick eye roll and said through a forced smile, “It’s going pret-ty good.” [Scroll down to watch.]
Perhaps FOX is hoping this Mariah/Minaj narrative will keep attention focused on the show (and not its many rivals) leading up to “Idol’s” January 2013 premiere. This week, however, the talk among the judges themselves was less about any controversy, and more about the different musical backgrounds each brings to the table.
“Well, there’s serious and obvious diversity in this panel,” host Ryan Seacrest told us. “You look at the heritage of Mariah. You look at the relevance of Nicki. You look at the singer-songwriter component of [country star] Keith Urban, and then of course, the history that Randy Jackson has as the glue on this show. I think you’ll really get a chance to see diversity this season.”
“American Idol” Season 12 judge Mariah Carey arrives for day one auditions at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012 in New York.
Another thing Seacrest is hoping to see?
“I can’t wait for a contestant to come in and sing a Mariah song. I can’t wait to see how that moment goes,” he said. “I’m losing sleep over that.”
Will any contestant have the guts to do it? And how would Mariah react? Should anyone even attempt to perform one of Minaj’s theatrical, British accented raps in front of her?
Both ladies tell us below. (Nicki speaks first. Scroll down to watch her Sept. 23 visit to “The View.”)
Check out the video below of Nicki talking about working with Mariah Carey early in her career.
via EURWeb
