Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey confirmed as ‘American Idol’ Judges. The new “American Idol” Judges for Season 12 have been unveiled at the first "American Idol" Season 12 callback auditions taping at New York's Lincoln Center.
They are
- Hip-hop diva Nicki Minaj
- Country crooner Keith Urban
The duo will join be joining the panel alongside longtime judge Randy Jackson (who is still on board to give the show continuity and Randy's star managerial client, Maria Carey. The odd foursome had already made their first public appearance at the maiden edition of Season 12.
Nicki Minaj will earn a whopping $10 million plus additional allowances for hair and makeup) that Fox will be paying her.
Keith is coming in as a relatively cheaper bargain, since he's reportedly "only" getting paid somewhere around $4 million. But regardless, neither of these two new judges will be getting anything close to the cool $18 that Mariah is supposedly pocketing.
Randy will be pocketing two salaries--his own as a continuing judge, and a cut of Mariah's earnings.
On the mix of the Idol Judges - Nicki Minaj will bring in an urban audience - Hip-hop and R&B are arguably the biggest genres on the charts right now, Keith urban will attract country music lovers.
American Idol has had its own share of competition from rivals “The Voice and X Factor” which led to a drop in ratings, it is believed that the pair of Maria Carey and Nicki Minaj would draw in a different audience aside from the core viewers that have consistently voted for five guitar-strumming rock/country/folk singers in a row--thus making "Idol" diverse and competitive again.
