Nicki Minaj

LOS ANGELES - It'll be a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll on stage at next month's American Music Awards. Organizers announced Wednesday that Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj and Linkin Park will perform at the 40th annual ceremony on Nov. 18. All are also up for awards. Minaj is the night's leading nominee, along with Rihanna, with four bids each. Swift is nominated for favorite female country artist, and Linkin Park is in the running for alternative artist. Fans can pick the winners by voting online.

The court was shocked, shocked, to find topless photos of a beautiful celeb in a French magazine. Actually, "brutal" was how the tribunal in Nanterre, France, described the pics of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge , née Kate Middleton , that appeared Friday in the magazine Closer. The court, responding to a complaint by Kate and hub Prince William , ordered the mag on Tuesday to turn over all digital copies of the pics within 24 hours and cease further publication of them. The publishers will be fined $13,100 for every day they delay.

EIGHT YEARS after Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, some unexpected controversy returned to the Super Bowl halftime show. M.I.A., appearing with Madonna and Nicki Minaj to perform "Give Me All Your Luvin'," flipped the middle finger to a camera before a cutaway. The song contains an inappropriate word, which she did not appear to say, although it was difficult to hear her clearly. NBC went to a blurred wide view of the stage in an effort to cut out the shot, but it was too late as M.I.A.'s middle-finger gesture could be seen.

Eight years after Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, some unexpected controversy returned to the Super Bowl halftime show. M.I.A., appearing on stage with Madonna and Nicki Minaj to perform "Give Me All Your Luvin'," flipped the middle finger to a camera before a cutaway. The song contains an inappropriate word, which she did not say, using the middle finger in place of the word. NBC went to a wide view of the stage, but it was too late as M.I.A.'s middle finger gesture could be seen.

The New York Times has anointed her "the most influential female rapper of all time. " But to Northeast Philadelphia's Maurice Wright, Nicki Minaj is just "my little Barbie. " Wright, 22, was one of hundreds of Minaj fans who took over South Broad Street in Center City on Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of an in-store autograph session by the rapper. She was due to arrive at the f.y.e. store at Broad and Chestnut Streets in support of her sophomore album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, which was released Tuesday.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show (3 p.m., NBC10) - Actor Dennis Quaid; Nicki Minaj performs. Entertainment Tonight (7 p.m., CBS3) - Actors Selena Gomez and Cory Monteith; Cars 2 . The Insider (7:30 p.m., CBS3) - Courteney Cox; Katie Couric; Cameron Diaz. Flashpoint (8 p.m., CBS3) - When a young man is held captive by a carjacker who kidnapped a woman with a baby in her vehicle, the team must figure out how to get in without hurting the infant. Friday Night Lights (8 p.m., NBC10)

LOS ANGELES - Chris Brown won a pair of prizes at Sunday's BET Awards. The 21-year-old singer and the night's leading nominee won best male R&B artist and best collaboration for his song "Look At Me Now" with Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes. Nicki Minaj won for best female hip-hop artist. Kanye West won for best male hip-hop artist but wasn't on hand to accept the trophy. Diddy Dirty Money was named best group. Jaden Smith and Willow Smith tied as winners of the Young Stars award.

Love is fleeting - or maybe just ill-advised. Ryan Reynolds , 34, and Charlize Theron , 36 on Sunday, broke up in late July after only two months of dating, reports Us Weekly. He wanted a summer fling, she wanted to settle down. Reynolds is hot off a divorce from Scarlett Johansson , who reportedly was the one to end the two-year marriage in December. Is it coincidence that all this, um, coincides with Reynolds' just-released what-if-your-life-were-different flick The Change-Up ?

There have been moments, sometimes lasting years, when Britney Spears has seemed like an accessory to her own career - the public face of a vast army of producers, songwriters, choreographers, stylists, publicity agents, and marketing executives. But holding together that tangle of competing agendas is no easy task. Part of what great pop stars do is provide a sense of continuity, using the force of their personality to bridge the gaps between trends. It cannot be an easy job, and six weeks into her Femme Fatale tour, even Britney Spears looked as though she was tired of being Britney Spears.

MERICAN IDOL'S" game of musical chairs may have taken another casualty as new reports claim Randy Jackson is vacating his post as judge - a spot he's held since the singing competition premiered in 2002. Jackson is reportedly stepping away from the judges' table but would continue to play a role in the show as a mentor to the contestants. No word on what capacity that mentorship would be. "Idol" currently relies on guest musicians to dole out advice alongside Jimmy Iovine, the in-house "Idol" mentor and chairman of Interscope/ Geffen/ A&M (contestants broker deals through Universal Music Group, with Interscope proving popular among them)