Nicki Minaj

DO VIEWERS WATCH our national karaoke shows for the singers or for the judges? The producers must think it's the judges, because how else can one explain "American Idol" allegedly offering Katy Perry $20 million in order to spout cliches such as "I really felt that performance," "Tonight, you brought it," "You are the complete package" and other nonsense. Twenty million? To listen to mediocre cover versions of songs you've heard a hundred times? And this comes after already inking Mariah Carey to an $18 million deal.

Philadelphia audiences know rapper Meek Mill. Local hip-hop heads dig the North Philly native, 25, for his 14 self-made and -distributed mix tapes, to say nothing of his two most recent tapes for Maybach Music, MC/producer Rick Ross' label through Warner Bros. Area rap fans have seen Mill open for or appear with Drake, Diddy, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj. They've heard Mill do his street-oriented soliloquies on local radio stations. With mix-tape success behind and a golden future ahead, Mill is growing for the better.

FOLLOWING the absurd Pussy Riot guilty verdict at their trial in Russia (they were sentenced to two years in prison for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" when all they were really guilty of is Vladimir Putin hatred), emboldened hardliners have decided to sue Madonna for more than $10 million. The suit contends that residents of St. Petersburg suffered "moral damage" during Madonna's recent concert there. So says Reuters and Ria Novosti, Russia's state news agency.

The opening acts at Friday's Wired Fest, a five-hour concert at the Susquehanna Bank Center Center in Camden, were meant to set the stage for headliner Nicki Minaj. But the show, sponsored by Wired 96.5 (WRDW 96.5-FM,) was neither a cohesive selection of like-minded artists nor a purposefully eclectic conclave like the Roots Picnic, but an accidental hodgepodge of seven performers, including B.o.B., T-Pain, and Diggy Simmons, taken from the station's playlists. Ironically, it turned out to be a fitting introduction for Minaj, whose attempts to conquer every corner of the pop universe simultaneously has stretched her prodigious talents to the breaking point.

Between a calendar of multi-act festivals and single-name attractions, it's going to be a busy summer concert season, outdoors and in. Besides the shows highlighted below, there are several fests worthy of attention - from the Metallica-headlined Orion + More fest in Atlantic City on June 23 and 24 to the free Global Fusion fest on the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, whose R&B headliners include Estelle, Melanie Fiona, and Marsha Ambrosius....

In an era of fashionista rappers with gangsta attitude, such as Nicki Minaj and Azealia Banks, it's awesome — even necessary — that Eve make her return. At 33, Philly's self-proclaimed "pit bull in a skirt" can show up any of her imitators. She proved as much during an intimate (200 people) gig Wednesday at Fishtown's funky Kung Fu Necktie. From her earliest days as one of the Ruff Ryders to her own pop-hop hits ("Who's That Girl?") and a klatch of smash collaborations with Gwen Stefani, Eve was always the queen of swagger.

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.

Pop Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic sssf) If you're a hip-hop aficionado who has long loved steamy rapper/singer Nicki Minaj's mix tapes but thought her 2010 Pink Friday debut was sorely lacking in grit, sexuality, and overall oddity, Roman Reloaded is for you. The Trinidadian-American has appropriated Missy Elliot's bent rhythms, weird electronics, and choppy, overheated flow...

Conan (11 p.m., TBS) - Actress Megan Mullally; actor Steven Ho. Late Show With David Letterman (11:35 p.m., CBS3) - Actor Jon Hamm; White Rabbits perform. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (11:35 p.m., NBC10) - Julianne Moore; Brady Barr; Chickenfoot performs. Jimmy Kimmel Live (Midnight, 6ABC) - Comic Joan Rivers; Nicki Minaj performs.

She did the red carpet as Little Red Riding Hood (in a blood-red Atelier Versace nun-inspired satin robe) with a pope-alike in full faux-Vatican regalia on her arm. Nicki Minaj at the Grammys. So scandalous! Minaj, 29, later performed "Roman Reloaded," with a stage show out of The Exorcist : She was strapped to a leather table, levitated, surrounded by roaring flames, and did a mock self-exorcism. The spectacle disgusted The View' s Sherri Shepherd . "I didn't know whether to dance or pull out my Bible and lay hands on the tv," she tweeted.