So Is the Mariah & Nicki Feud Staged Or Not? You Be the Judge

The first two episodes of American Idol premiered this week after three months worth of free publicity from the very public feud between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. Many have charged that the acrimony is staged to hype up the show, which now competes with several celebrity-judged singing contests. and get people watching. But the women seem pretty genuine in the respective shade they have been throwing at each other, and last week during a live panel at the TCAs, they managed to convince an audience of television critics that their hate is real. Now we get to watch all of the drama unfold and their tension mount. Over the first two episodes, what seemed to be a playful combativeness appeared to snowball into some pretty convincing mutual annoyance. It’s basically the best thing that has ever happened to this show since Paula’s pills.