Dallas native Cortez Shaw taken to task by Nicki Minaj on American Idol

Minaj called his rendition of Whitney's signature hit "disgusting."

Fox Screencap

Dallas contestant Cortez Shaw performs on American Idol.

This season of American Idol sadly is not as strong in ratings as previous ones. I say “sadly,” because in my opinion, the panel of judges is possibly the strongest I’ve seen in the show’s 12 seasons.

Keith Urban is funny, affable, and a major upgrade in eye candy. Nicki Minaj is funny, but not necessarily Paula Abdul funny. Abdul was funny because she seemed loopy and a bit wacky. Minaj has great one-liners, hilarious expressions, and most important of all, she has no qualms telling someone they suck. In most cases I agree with her. Then there’s Mariah Carey, who is in the running for the “Most Lukewarm Reality Show Judge” award. Still, she is not as tame as Britney Spears was on The X Factor. But yeah, Carey is not the queen on the show. That title belongs to Ms. Minaj. You just need to watch the show for 10 minutes and you’ll see who’s in charge. Randy Jackson? Boring.

This week, the contestants are already in Hollywood, but in a new twist, the guys will first sing against guys; then girls against girls. The guys performed individually, and if they made it through that round, they were put into groups to perform together (in the producers’ attempt to create drama). This, at times, brought along disastrous consequences.

Going back to Minaj, the rapper did not hold back when Dallas contestant Cortez Shaw performed a somewhat shouty rendition of “I Will Always Love You.” Personally, I didn’t love it; I thought he was trying way too hard to hit those notes and was left wanting something softer. Which was my thought for most of the first half of the episode. Why are they all trying to be Jennifer Hudson? Please, no. Also, not a smart idea to do such an iconic song. I mean, get serious, not everyone can do Whitney.

Dallas’ Cortez Shaw singing “I Will Always Love You” on American Idol

Shaw’s shout-fest was enjoyed by Carey but not so much by Minaj, who interrupted her critique and said: “I honestly felt you did a poor job at that song, and I was very, very disgusted by it.” Jackson added some wisdom by stating: “You ain’t Whitney.” Minaj then closed by saying: “I would have sent you home, hands down, with that audition, and I think the other guys should know that.”

At the end, Shaw still made it through, and there are rumors that he makes it all the way to the top 40. He made it to the top 40 last year.

Dallas’ Cortez Shaw redeems himself on American Idol

Minaj’s comments were harsh and somewhat shocking in the sense that some contestants who were worse than Shaw didn’t get such a strong critique. It may have been the editing, or maybe Shaw is much better than what we have seen and Minaj wants him to show that. He also performed last night as part of a group -- and it was much better.

Have you been watching this season of Idol? What do you think about Shaw? Are you loving Minaj as a judge as much as I am?