Another one bites the dust.
Following on from arch rival Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj has confirmed that she too is leaving American Idol.
Details after the jump…
Taking to Twitter, the Young Money major wrote:
Thank you American Idol for a life changing experience! Wouldn’t trade it for the world! Time to focus on the Music!!! Mmmuuuaahhh!!!
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 30, 2013
The Hip-Pop star’s announcement was followed by a joint statement from the show’s creators Fox, Freemantle Media and 19 Entertainment, who said:
“Nicki Minaj is a superstar who brought a level of honesty and passion to American Idol and who had a tremendous positive impact on so many contestants this season. Given her extremely busy career, we understand and respect her decision and wish her the best.”
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As with Mimi, we strongly doubt the decision was as “mutual” as is being passed off. Indeed, we’re more inclined to side with the sources who claim that producers are cleaning house and are allowing the catastrophe of a judging panel to depart without the words “fired”, “axed”, or “flop” to follow them. Put simply, this feels like a politically correct pay-off for both Mariah and Minaj — whose large pay-packets failed to deliver the ratings the show enlisted them for.
In any case, with Idol out-of-the-way, we’re super amped to see what Nicki serves up musically. She’s gone on record to tout the “back to basics”/less commercial direction of album #3. Will the Hip-Hop arena welcome her back following her meaty taste of the mainstream? Time will tell!