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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.

It's weird that Fox declined showing us the full version of what generated so much pre-show publicity. Was it too real? Too raw? Is this some elaborate scheme to get us too stop thinking that this thing is one big publicity stunt orchestrated by producers by suggesting that the flare-up went off the rails and out of their hands, resulting in footage that was too hot for TV? In any case, the show wanted us to believe that the tempered footage that ended up airing is what had everyone abuzz last year, as footage of various news outlets discussing the feud that's destined to remain grainy in our heads was inserted into the episode. Haha, yeah right.

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Whatever. At least we got to hear Mariah describe someone's audition as "pow...pippity pow." Good comment. Very constructive. The recipient of that incoherent praise, by the way, told the divas upon exiting her audition (having heard the national news of the Great Pop War of 2012 that had just happened), "Please don't fight, it makes me sad." What kind of a fan is she?