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Nicki Minaj Video Deemed Too Risqué to Premiere on American Idol

All the American Idol judges performed on Thursday night's finale... except for Nicki Minaj. On a night chock-full of performances, including Korean pop sensation Psy and Aretha Franklin via satellite, the "Superbass" singer's absence from the stage was conspicuous. The omission wasn't a snub though.

Hanh Nguyen

All the American Idol judges performed on Thursday night's finale... except for Nicki Minaj.
On a night chock-full of performances, including Korean pop sensation Psy and Aretha Franklin via satellite, the "Superbass" singer's absence from the stage was conspicuous. The omission wasn't a snub though. "I had already committed to the Billboard Awards to perform my single ['High School'], and so I wasn't allowed to perform it on Idol and perform it on Billboard [both]," Minaj explained to reporters after the finale.
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It's not her first disappointment when it comes to the single. "I was supposed to premiere my 'High School' video on Idol but they said it was too risque," Minaj said. "Anyway."
Both the song (which discusses adultery) and the video features rapper Lil Wayne. In the video, Minaj plays a mafia don's mistress, who has a penchant for wearing bright neon monokinis and lingerie. Check out the official "High School" video and judge for yourself. [Warning: Contains explicit language and monokinis.]


Minaj and Lil Wayne will perform "High School" on the Billboard Music Awards, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on ABC.