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Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban join American Idol panel
Rapper Nicki Minaj and country star Keith Urban are to be judges on the next series of
American Idol. Fox television made the official announcement hours before the first round
of auditions were due to take place in New York. The duo replace Jennifer Lopez and
Aerosmith singer Steve Tyler, both of whom quit earlier this year.
Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson complete the line-up on the programme, which has been
suffering falling ratings. Audience's for this year's series - the eleventh - were down
about 30% on 2011. The season finale drew 21.5 million viewers, a record low, to see
Phillip Phillips win.
Therefore, the appointment of Minaj is likely to be of key importance to Fox, who will
hope to draw in a younger, hipper audience. The 25-year-old, Barbie-esque rapper sold
three million copies of her recent single Starships in the US alone; while her cartoonish
blend of pop, rave and hip-hop has seen her top the charts in the UK, US and Canada.
Urban, meanwhile, is one of the biggest names in country music. He boasts 14 US number
ones, and has won the Grammy for best male country vocal performance four times in the
last six years. The singer is also married to actress Nicole Kidman.
Carey, who first found fame with the number one single Vision Of Love in 1990, will
reportedly receive $18 million (£11.5m) for her one-year contract on Idol. The salaries
of the other judges have not been revealed.
The appointment of three newcomers means Randy Jackson is the sole returning judge. He
has been with the show since it first began in 2002, when his fellow judges were Simon
Cowell and Paula Abdul. Over the years, American Idol has produced stars such as Kelly
Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson.
It now faces competition from the likes of The Voice and X Factor US, which boast
Cee-Lo Green, Britney Spears, Adam Levine and Simon Cowell on their judging panel.
American Idol returns for its 12th series in January.
(BBC News)
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