Ryan Seacrest, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey.

The judges of American Idol hosted a special live Q&A session with their fans at UCLA last week but the most interesting part of the event occurred backstage. Chatting with E! News, new light was shed on the personalities of the cast, allowing us to learn about several key facts regarding the panel.

Firstly, come hell or high water, you will not film Mariah Carey from her left side. The average viewer may have assumed that she was simply giving her nemesis, Nicki Minaj, the cold shoulder but Carey was actually trying her best to make sure that the cameras stayed far away from the long forgotten left side of her face. What resulted was the diva looking as if she wanted to beat the E! News cameraman with the overhead soft lighting that she obviously requested for the interview.

Secondly, Nicki Minaj is the most engaging and relatable judge on the panel. Although she clearly doesn’t know a thing about singing, humming or even lip-syncing, Minaj spoke clearly and got straight to the point of each issue. Perhaps her hard edge serves as a clever to balance Carey’s polite yet pleasantly demanding personality.

Finally, the men on the American Idol judging panel are only there to fill up the empty seats. Did you notice that Keith Urban was absent from this E! News interview? Of course you didn’t because you were too busy trying to sense the simmering rage between Carey and Minaj, while oddly fascinated by the top of the former’s ensemble.

So, as this E! News interview shows us, American Idol will be packed with diva moments, big personalities and little testosterone. I have a sneaky feeling that this season will be a major hit with a younger demographic and succeed where The X Factor (US) failed.

Watch the American Idol judges chat with E! News below:

Thoughts?