‘American Idol’ season 12: New clips of Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, and Keith Urban

Even though we are smack in the middle of “The X Factor” and “The Voice,” why don’t we give a little bit of attention at the moment to the show that started it all? With that in mind, we have some brand-new promos for “American Idol” season 12 that are definitely worth taking a minute or two to check out.

The first one that we have to share here features none other than Mariah Carey, who talks a little bit about how this is the sort of competition that she wishes she had back when she was starting out in music. Her delivery feels just a little bit wooden, but you can see just in one of these clips from an audition how magnetized some of these hopefuls are by her mere presence. (This is what having a superstar in the room will do to you.)

As for Keith Urban, his delivery definitely comes across as a little bit more natural in comparison to what we are seeing from Mariah, even if the contestants don’t necessarily seem to be as captivated by what he is saying. Our favorite part of this clip is when the country star explains that one of the things that he loves the most about this sort of show is seeing someone who comes in very shy, and then explodes with a voice that you would never imagine they would have.

Finally, our final clip (via Mjsbigblog) comes courtesy of an appearance from Nicki Minaj on “Live! with Kelly and Michael,” where she is seen listening to a contestant with one of the show’s signature stories of triumph. In this case, the singer is someone who is having to raise her daughter during tough times, as her boyfriend was sevrely injured in an accident. For whatever reason these singers tend to leave in the midway point of the competition, but their auditions are traditionally tear-jerkers.