Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban Announced As New American Idol Judges!

There has been quite the change up over at American Idol, but Fox has finally named its new judges.  Here's hoping that a fresh new batch of superstars can breathe some life back into this talent competition.  For the past few seasons, the show has been a revolving door of judges, with only host Ryan Seacrest and voice of reason Randy Jackson remaining constant.

Earlier this year, the show bid farewell to former judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, while Mariah Carey secured the first spot at the new judges' table.  Since then, there has been so much speculation as to who would join her in finding new singing talent.  There have been multiple musicians thrown in the hat, from Nick Jonas to P. Diddy, but now Mariah's counterparts have been chosen.  I wonder what she thinks of them though…

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The twelfth season of American Idol announced the final judges just hours before the show's first televised auditions, according to Deadline.  Joining Mariah and Randy as judges will be Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban.  Call me crazy, but I have a feeling that Ms. Carey and her diva attitude is going to have some issues sharing the spotlight with Nicki.  That's just my prediction though.  I'll be curious to see how the show will work with four judges again…I don't feel like it was all that great last time they tried it. 

Sources are saying that Nicki will be raking in the dough, with a contract in the $10 to $12 million range.  Poor Keith, who reportedly quit the Australian version of The Voice last week, will only be making between $3 and $5 million.  I guess you can't win them all, Keith!  Randy will be back judging as well amidst speculation that he may return in more of a mentor role.  While it has yet to be confirmed, insiders believe that Jimmy Iovine will be returning in the that capacity.

A bigwig from Fox announced the news, saying, “With an unparalleled star like Mariah, fan-favorite Randy, chart-toppers like Nicki and Keith and our incomparable host Ryan, we’ve put together one of the most exciting judging panels around."  I daresay they are going to need an exciting judges' panel to compete with the fresh, new competition shows that have emerged of late. 

The show's executive producer adds, “With the exciting addition of Mariah Carey, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj, alongside Randy Jackson, American Idol’s star power has never been so great."

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[Photo Credit: Twitter]

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