Advertisement

Mariah Carey would ‘absolutely not’ return to ‘American Idol’ for final season

Mariah Carey performs at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on May 6.

Mariah Carey performs at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on May 6.

(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Share via

Mariah Carey slammed her run on “American Idol” yet again.

The glitzy “Infinity” singer had no kind words for Fox’s once-mighty singing competition, which she co-judged in Season 12 with Randy Jackson, rapper Nicki Minaj and country star Keith Urban.

During an interview on Australia’s “Kyle and Jackie O” radio show this week, the pop star was asked if she’d return for the series’ final season next year. To that, she replied with incredulity.

“Hell no! Absolutely not. That was the worst experience of my life,” she said.

No, tell us how you really feel, Mimi.

Carey’s run was peppered with tabloid-friendly headlines over a feud with the feisty Minaj, but Carey said that supposed feud was “nonexistent.”

Advertisement

“I’m not going to get into what it was, but let’s just say I don’t think they had any intentions for us to have a good experience doing that show,” the octave-jumping singer said.

“Pitting two females against each other wasn’t cool,” she added. “It should have been about the contestants instead of about some nonexistent feud that turned into like even more ridiculousness. And I would never want to be involved with it again ... but everybody else seemed to like it.”

The Las Vegas headliner proceeded to call the reality series “boring” and “fake.”

“Fake [because] you have to make up things to say to people,” she said. “Half the time the performances are good. It was good, [end it] there.”

Advertisement

It’s not the first time Carey has put down the former juggernaut, which will end its run next year after 15 seasons.

“It was like hell -- going to work every day in hell with Satan,” Carey told Hot 97 host Angie Martinez back in November 2013.

At the time, the Grammy Award winner said she was disappointed when producers wouldn’t greenlight good contestants for “political reasons.” She left the show in March 2012 on the heels of Jackson’s exit, citing her desire to focus on her forthcoming world tour. Soon after, Minaj announced she’d be leaving too and the show returned to its original format of a three-judge panel.

Advertisement

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad

Advertisement