Mariah Carey & American Idol Judges Cover ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ + New Mariah Album News [Photo]

The American Idol judges grace the cover of the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter. The mag features a lengthy article on the state of American Idol, the infamous Carey-Minaj feud and what to expect this upcoming season.

“There’s something a little more romantic about Mariah Carey shouting, ‘You’re going to Hollywood!,’ than Nicki Minaj going, ‘You made it to Northridge!'”

So cracks American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, yet here they are, on Dec. 12, deep in the suburban no-man’s-land of the San Fernando Valley, about 20 miles from Grauman’s Theatre, the Walk of Fame or any semblance of Hollywood glamour, except, of course, for the music giants taking their seats at the Valley Performing Arts Center: multiplatinum R&B hitmaker Carey, hip-hop artist Minaj and country star Keith Urban — new additions for season 12 alongside the sole original judge, Randy Jackson, who also recently started co-managing Carey, with Irving Azoff. (Recounts Jackson: “We were talking about it one day, and she said, ‘Dude, would you help me?’ And I was like, ‘I guess that might work.’ “)

Read the rest of the article here. American Idol returns January 16th on FOX.

In other related news, Mariah’s been pretty quiet about her upcoming album, but in a new interview, producer Bryan-Michael Cox says he and Jermaine Dupri have about 10 recorded songs finished.

“We did like ten songs. I don’t know how many songs are going to stick, but Mariah is like our sister. We love her and she calls. She always calls and a lot of artists don’t call. Mariah is one that consistently is like “If we’ve worked before, we can work again.” I love Mariah for that because she’s a true friend. We did a bunch of songs and I think four or five may stick. We’re excited about it.”

This is great news for Mariah fans because as you know, Bryan and Jermaine are responsible for producing hits such as “We Belong Together”, “Shake It Off” and “Don’t Forget About Us”.