'AMERICAN IDOL': THE MARIAH-MINAJ MAYHEM

A young singer named Summer Cunningham helped jump start the Mariah Carey- Nicki Minaj beef last night on ‘American Idol‘.

The 20-year-old auditioned by singing ‘Lean on Me'. She impressed the judges. When new judge Keith Urban asked her about her background, Cunningham replied, "I did the country thing for a while," which he took issue with.

Keith told her, "That's like saying, ‘I did the brain surgeon thing. You're either a brain surgeon or you're not."

Summer went on to explain that she is trying to combine country and soul. When both Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey scolded Summer about whether she was a country singer at heart or not, Nicki Minaj chimed in, saying that the other judges were trying to force the young contestant to be a country singer.

While Summer won her way to the next round in Hollywood with four unanimous votes, Nicki Minaj ended up storming off the set after an exchange with Mariah, forcing production to close for the rest of the day. The judges resumed the following day without incident.