On the Set: American Idol's New Tune-Up
It's the first day of shooting American Idol Season 12's Hollywood Week, and the judges are on their best behavior. ­Sitting side by side at the dais, five-time Grammy winner Mariah Carey and three-time nominee Nicki Minaj listen patiently, compare notes and whisper suggestions to each other as dozens of male contestants step forward to sing. Flanked by Aussie country crooner Keith Urban and Idol mainstay Randy Jackson (the only returning judge), the divas ­reveal a camaraderie that's a far cry from the antagonism they displayed just a few months earlier.
In October, when ­auditions rolled through Charlotte, North Carolina, cell-phone-video footage of Carey and Minaj arguing over a ­contestant's performance was leaked on the Internet. "If you say one more disrespectful thing to me, off with your head!" Minaj threatened. "Why do I have a 3-year-old sitting around me?" countered Carey...
