Clay Aiken, the runner-up from season 2 of American Idol, holds a slim lead in his Democratic Congressional primary against former North Carolina Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco this morning. Aiken is ahead by just 372 votes with all precincts already reporting, leaving the race too close to call.

The bundle of paranoia and sporadic searing insight that is Courtney Love was on Opie and Anthony's Sirius show Thursday. During her appearance, she mentioned that she was going to appear on a network reality show soon. This is a "big thing," she said, and her described wariness of "doing TV" made it sound like this is more than a one-episode guest gig.

An argument between a Pennsylvania couple over which American Idol finalist deserved to win the contest escalated quickly, resulting in a knife fight that left the pair bloodied and behind bars.

If you need any more proof of the increased cultural pull of Jennie Livingston's 1990 New York drag-ball documentary Paris Is Burning, look no further than the most popular show in the United States. On last night's American Idol, former judge/Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler donned a wig, makeup and a dress for a gag audition. He introduced himself as "Pepper LaBeija, from the House of LaBeija," referencing an actual (now dead) human being, who is featured prominently in Burning. Granted, the joke of Tyler's appearance was to be antithetical to the "realness" rhapsodized by the Burning queens. His drag was more on the Milton Berle side of things, approaching disrespect for the medium, but at least he knows his shit — or knows someone who knows. Wise.

Last night's American Idol should have included footage of the infamous Mariah Carey/Nicki Minaj feud, which TMZ broke the news on in October, getting us (well, me, at least) all excited in the process. Instead of hearing Mariah call Nicki a "bitch" in earnest and Nicki yelp, "Off with your head, off with your head," in HD, we got what led up to the ranting and exasperation: a disagreement about pigeonholing a singer who'd auditioned as "country." Nicki ended up storming off, and during the next round of auditions, both parties seemed to be walking on eggshells around each other.

On last night's American Idol, Mariah Carey's irrepressible eccentricity once again took a starring role. She asked a guy with a stutter (in a segment that played my emotions like a harp), "Tell me about the way you speak — is that someone thing you're working on, or...?" She told a young woman, "I know what it's like to sing through tears." She reported that Mariah is "the 62nd most popular name," and you know she takes all credit for that. She said, "Cool beans...salad."

The powers that be at American Idol want us to think that Mariah Carey and Nicki were at each other's throats from the get go, in one of the most ostentatious diva battles pop culture has ever witnessed. Footage from the relatively harmonious first day of filming (when Mariah wore this) was moved to the end of last night's Season 12 premiere to make way for the subsequent bickering that happened as the divas got more comfortable with each other and/or were told by producers to ramp up the animosity. (The first hour of footage that was aired, by the way, was described as the first day of filming.)

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your sympathies: when Mariah Carey was 19, someone (probably Tommy Mottola) drilled into her head that her left side is her "bad side." She has struggled with this affliction of knowledge ever since. She said she was doing better with it ("I don't care anymore," she lied in 2009), but then someone went and put her on the right in this setup for an American Idol promo interview on Wednesday.

Last night, Fox screened about an hour's worth of footage of the first two episodes of the upcoming season of American Idol (premiering Wednesday) to fans and contest winners in movie theaters around the country. It was as weird as it sounds, but thoroughly entertaining. Immediately, it was clear that pitting classic diva (Mariah Carey) against nu-diva (Nicki Minaj) is every bit the genius casting that it seemed to be when it was announced last year. And what's more, Nicki Minaj has emerged as the favorite in this now-legendary, inevitable feud. Minaj wins in the category of what matters most: entertainment value. She is by far the most magnetic persona on the judging panel.

Come next week, we'll get to see with our own eyes if the pop-culture feud of 2012 is as fake as it seems when American Idol begins its 12th season featuring Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj on its judging panel. But until then, we'll just have to take their word for it. Nicki has already weighed in, and Mariah got an extended chance to do so last night on Nightline when she sat down with the always daffy Barbara Walters.

Mariah Carey sits in front of her new MacBook that Nick bought her for Christmas and holds one of her precious babies on her lap. Is it Monroe? Or maybe Moroccan? Damn, she forgot again. She's wearing a Santa red mini dress and sky high pumps on her feet. Her Santa cap hasn't left her head in days. December is a weird time in the Carey household and everyone knows it. All of her holiday staff is fully aware of what December means to her.

Nicki Minaj's nonstop commercial/reality show Nicki Minaj: My Truth addressed the pop star/rapper's supposed beef with fellow American Idol judge Mariah Carey during its second episode last night. According to Nicki, she "reached her boiling point" after being "egged on" by Carey and "storm[ing] off" the set. She returned to receive "another jab" from Carey, and that is when she unleashed her rant, which was filmed and then posted on TMZ.

Everyone can stop worrying: debate expert President Barack Obama has finally weighed in on the Nicki Minaj-Mariah Carey American Idol feud. During an interview with something called "The Yo Show," the president said the following:

Stevie Nicks has apologized for saying she would murder Nicki Minaj. At least she isn't acting like it never happened.

If you think that Stevie Nicks is a bizarre person to weigh in on the Mariah Carey/Nicki Minaj American Idol feud, she'll see your bizarreness and raise you a murderous impulse. Pop music's most cherished witch figure seems to be the last person in the world who doesn't think Mariah and Nicki's public squabbling is a publicity stunt to court interest for the dying brand that is Idol, and that's a great thing because Nicks is saying ridiculous stuff as a result. Stuff like:

Is the Mariah Carey-Nicki Minaj back-and-forth a genuine feud or a ratings ploy? Neither, claim American Idol producers.

Is Nicki Minaj for real?

It looks like the rumors about American Idol judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj hating each other are true. According to TMZ, Minaj snapped and cursed out Carey during a recent audition. After a disagreement over a contestant's peformance, Minaj said:

Who would have thought two pop divas wouldn't be instant BFF?

Are you ready to start caring about American Idol again? Me neither. But here's your Season 12 judges' panel anyway: original judge Randy Jackson (wait, really?), recent addition Mariah Carey, and total newbies Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban.