Mariah Carey tries to replace Nicki Minaj with another big celeb on American Idol

Nicki Minaj is close to signing that American Idol deal, if she hasn’t already… and Mariah Carey isn’t happy about it. Mariah’s actually trying to sway the producers to hire Lenny Kravitz instead of Nicki because she doesn’t want to have to compete with another female on the show.

But who else is going to join them on the judges’ panel?

Somebody is rooting for Kanye West because his name keeps coming up. He’s reportedly working out some sort of deal with them but he’s not a sure bet yet.

But listen to this statement that someone gave TMZ…. A source told TMZ that the show would be worried about having a panel with Mariah, Nicki, Kanye and Randy Jackson because “middle America might not welcome the blackout”.

Wow. Even Kirk Cameron can’t defend that statement.

People magazine lightened up the judging possibility a bit by insisting that Enrique Iglesias and Nick Jonas are still in the running to join the show.