Despite Us magazine saying Nicki Minaj is all set to be a judge on ‘American Idol’, apparently it’s not all set, nothing is all set, and no one even knows how many judges there will be, much less who they are.

The Hollywood Reporter says a four person panel with Carey, Minaj, country star Keith Urban and Latin, um, person Enrique Iglesias is a very likely scenario, People mentions Minaj, Iglesias and Nick Jonas, while TMZ is now reporting that Kanye West has been approached too. But he would cost at least as much as Carey, which is $18 million a season.

Oh and Carey reportedly threw a hissy fit yesterday about Minaj because she doesn’t want to share the spotlight with another girl. Meaning Minaj is no lock.

So the only thing we know for sure is that ‘Idol’ wants big stars, because those cost the most money and almost definitely have nothing interesting to say. That’s clearly the best way to make a TV show. “Sure the show was boring,” Fox executives will say. “But at least we threw away lots of money on it.”

(image source of carey filming ‘the butler’ in new orleans today = fame/flynet)