Jeff Giles

Nicki Minaj and Scotty McCreery are performing on ‘American Idol‘! Not together, unfortunately, but hey — even if we have to keep waiting for our long-held dream of seeing a Minaj/McCreery duet, this news is still pretty awesome.

As it turns out, winning the Super Bowl isn’t the only thing that will earn you a special trip to Disney World. This year, the Top 5 contestants on ‘American Idol‘ will be making their way to Orlando too — and being paid handsomely for their time.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to speak out against sexual discrimination — or use her fame as a tool for furthering her favorite causes — Madonna has announced her intention to use an upcoming performance in Russia as a forum for speaking out against a controversial St. Petersburg law.

Twitter, like most social media networks, is frequently derided by outsiders as being a pointless forum for people to overshare the meaningless trivia of their lives. But like any tool, its value depends on the way it’s used — and as one enterprising artist recently proved, it can help create major opportunities.

We’re reaching the point where some programming-hungry network could build a hit series just about the rumors of who might or might not be part of the next season of ‘X Factor.’ The latest scuttlebutt suggests that Stacy Keibler, a former professional wrestler and onetime George Clooney paramour, is in talks to join the show.

Continuing his quest to use MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’ as a catapult into lasting superstardom, DJ Pauly D has locked down co-hosting duties at this year’s mtvU Woodie Awards, where he’ll appear alongside ‘In the Dark’ singer Dev.

Part of the fun of ‘American Idol‘ in recent years has been watching previous contestants return to the show, and that tradition will continue this year: Season 10 finalist Haley Reinhart and Season 7 winner David Cook are both scheduled to perform in the coming weeks.

It seems like every time Nicki Minaj steps out in public, she makes an impression with what she’s wearing — and that goes double on the set of her videos. So, it’s no surprise that when Nicki flew to Hawaii to film her clip for ‘Starships,’ the paparazzi were on hand to get a look at her outfits.

Generally speaking, most 42-year-old mothers of twins would find it difficult to pull off a look that involves skin-tight leather pants, a sparkling shirt, and/or cornrows, but Jennifer Lopez plays by a different set of rules — and to prove it, she danced around in the aforementioned wardrobe while shooting her latest video in Acapulco, Mexico.

We told you last week that Nicki Minaj‘s ‘Starships‘ was poised to make history, and now it’s official: She’s the highest-charting female rapper in U.K. history. Pop the champagne! Or whatever it is British people drink when they’re celebrating.

The film adaptation of ‘The Hunger Games’ won’t arrive in theaters for another couple of weeks, but Taylor Swift‘s contribution to the soundtrack, the Civil Wars-assisted ballad ‘Safe & Sound,’ is already a Top 30 hit — and, as the below clip from one of Taylor’s recent concerts proves, a singalong live favorite as well.

Her later years sadly overshadowed by controversy, Whitney Houston was arguably the most purely talented pop vocalist of her generation — and that legacy will be honored with a segment during BET’s 12th annual ‘Celebration of Gospel’ special, scheduled to air April 1.