American Idol Season 12: Fresh and potent

While rocking Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and sexy Jennifer Lopez have sashayed off the American Idol judges panel, the show must still go on.

And it will... with a "big explosive bang" as Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban fill the hot seats together with Idol veteran Randy Jackson as the new judging panel on a mission to uncover more talent for Season 12 of the long running show.

With a career spanning two decades, Mariah, 42, is one of the best-selling music artistes of all time having sold more than 200 million records worldwide. Her song, One Sweet Day, spent a record 16 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running No. 1 song in US chart history so far.

The inclusion of the versatile R&B and soul diva with a powerful five-octave vocal range will definitely make the new season of Idol a must watch.

Trinidad-born Nicki, 30, is an American singer-songwriter known for her machine-gun rapping, multiple alter-egos and outlandish attire complemented by peculiar wigs.

Although she has, to date, released only two hit studio albums, the award-winning Nicki, whose music straddles between the hip hop, R&B and pop genres, has made an impact on the music scene with some media describing her as the most influential female rapper of all time.

Multiple Grammy Award winner Keith, 45, completes the new line-up. The US-based Australian country singer-songwriter and guitarist has produced more than a dozen No. 1 hit singles since his debut album in 1991.

The affable TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest will return as host.

This is the third time the show is featuring a quartet of judges. The others were Season 8 and 9, which had Jackson alongside Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi and Simon Cowell.