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Mariah Carey Reportedly Upset Over Nicki Minaj Joining ‘Idol’

While the gossip and celeb industry was abuzz with news that Nicki Minaj might be joining the judges’ table on “American Ido,” one person who was not at all pleased was Mariah Carey, according to TMZ.

The site claims that Carey hung up the phone on Idol staffers when she was told Nicki was the top candidate.

Sources said the songstress was upset about the “Starships” singer/rapper primarily for two reasons: first, she was led to believe by the Idol team that she would be the only woman on the panel; second, Minaj is much younger—she’s 29 to Carey’s 42—and might offer some competition Carey would rather not have.

Carey has never been viewed as a picture of stability, so it’s unclear how the matter will be resolved. She did tweet a picture of herself with Lenny Kravitz on the set of their new movie “The Butler.”

“@AmericanIdol What’s going on? need the info!! What about this combo? : ) if we could ever get him to do it!” Carey wrote, talking about her and Kravitz together as judges.

This big question mark over the “Idol” judges’ table has been gossip fodder for the entire summer after Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler both said they would leave the show on the same week. But it’s still not clear what Randy Jackson is going to do. He could stay on as a judge, or leave the table to be a mentor, or leave the show altogether. Those last two would leave an unfilled spot at the table—rumors are that Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and Enrique Iglesias are the top contenders. If that’s true, Idol producers clearly are desirous of another demographic besides black and urban, which is mainly what they get with Minaj, Carey and Jackson. While Paisley, Urban and Iglesias represent decidedly different constituencies, none of them is black and urban.

And speaking of black, TMZ raised another question with the possibility of Minaj, Carey and Jackson occupying the table together.

“And there’s one other thing … Sources connected with the show say they’re worried … if the judges end up being Mariah, Nicki and Randy … middle America might not welcome the blackout,” TMZ wrote.

That’s right, blame it on “middle America.”

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