‘American Idol’ rumor: Nicki Minaj – Mariah Carey exit to be announced Monday?

In the land of fishing for shocking “American Idol” rumors, we may have just caught a marlin that we can later hang on the wall.

If you are to believe E! News, who probably has some good sources considering that Ryan Seacrest works there, Fox is going to announce with their upfront event on Monday that Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson (who already bid adieu) are all going to be taking their final bows as judges this season. For three of them, this means that they have the rare distinction of being on the show for only a year before getting let go. Somebody give these people Ellen DeGeneres’ phone number for counseling.

While some may be totally shocked that Fox would handle this dismissal so publicly, our wannabe-sage wisdom suggests otherwise. This is the smart way that Fox can handle their personal debacle. In owning up to the mistake Monday, maybe they can salvage the press that their eventual winner, whether it be Kree Harrison or Candice Glover, gets at the end of the day. They want these ladies to (shocker!) actually get some questions about their careers, and not about the judges that are always fighting with each other. Plus, this is the network actually respecting the intelligence of the viewers who all knew that this was a horrible panel full of people who didn’t bother to ever really get along (though that was not Keith’s fault).

Let’s hope that (using menacing voice) “American Idol” actually learns from its mistake here. Instead of actually just sticking on some big stars and hoping they get along, they should choose judges by audition, screen tests, and see how some lesser names do together? It’s the basic TV-for-dummies rule: If you have a good show, people will find out about it and watch. If you build it, they will come. If you stink up the place, they will run away holding their noses.

Let’s spend at least a few words here talking about the singers: If you want to know what the format for the finale is going to be, we have a few details for you here.

Photo: Fox