Was Mariah live, or was she Memorex? [photo: Fox]Mariah Carey is known as one of the greatest singers of all time. She was hired this year, for a whopping $18 million, to judge other singers on "American Idol." So when she gave a performance on Thursday night's "Idol" finale that seemed more appropriate for another talent show, "RuPaul's Drag Race" — that is, she appeared to be lip-synching for her life — well, it was not a tour de force, dahling.

Mariah's performance, which was actually pre-taped the night before the finale, featured the diva "singing" a medley of her greatest hits, including "Hero," "Vision of Love," "We Belong Together," "Make it Happen," and "My All."

But did she really make it happen? Was she really giving her all? It seemed like Mariah's onstage wind-machine was more operational than her microphone this Thursday.

Candice wins! [photo: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP]The third time was the charm for Candice Glover on "American Idol." After trying out for the show twice before (and getting cut in Season 9's Hollywood Week and Season 11's Vegas Week), the 23-year-old South Carolina soulstress was crowned the new "Idol" champion this Thursday, on Season 12's finale.

Candice Glover wins "American Idol."

It's official: Candice Glover is the Season 12 “American Idol” champion. She's the first female victor since Jordin Sparks won in 2007 and the fifth girl overall to ever win the singing competition. Now, the question is if Glover will go on to become one of the most successful "Idol" winners of all time. She'll have these folks to compete with:

Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen (Photos by C Flanigan/WireImage)

With rumours swirling that “American Idol” judges Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj will all be fired from the show, the question on everyone's minds is: Who will they hire to judge next season?

This week, Canadian singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen says that although she’d be “too motherly” to judge, she thinks that her mentor Justin Bieber would be perfect for the job.

"Justin would be awesome," the 27-year-old singer told The Hollywood Reporter. "He's got lots of great opinions when it comes to the music world and he's very experienced especially for being so young."

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Nine Inch Nails bassist Eric Avery was scheduled to perform with the band at the Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba, Japan, on July 26 -- but now it looks like that won’t be happening.

According to Billboard, frontman Trent Reznor announced 48-year-old Avery as part of Nine Inch Nails’ live lineup in February, ending the band’s four-year break. However, this week Avery revealed that he no longer wants the job.

"its with very mixed emotions i tell you all that im pulling out of NIN," the bassist wrote in a Facebook post on May 15.

He continued, “i know. its been a tough call and i don't know if its the right one. but i really want to focus on my musical life here in la, on film work in particular. as the tour dates kept growing… i just got overwhelmed. i just got home from a year of heavy travel with garbage, the idea of leaving town for another year and a half, and with all the intensity that nails demands… fortunately my friend Trent understands all this and appreciated my pulling the plug now instead of deep into 2013 and 14. go get em gentlemen.”

You might remember that along with Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, and Stephen Perkins, Avery is a founding member of the alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction, but left the group in 2010. He also played on Canadian chanteuse Alanis Morissette’s 2002 album “Under Rug Swept.”

Nine Inch Nails’ remaining lineup consists of Adrian Belew, Alessandro Cortini, Joshua Eustis, Ilan Rubin and Reznor. Even though fans seem upset with Avery’s decision to leave, some are wishing him luck with his journey.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield returned home this week and was greeted by Simple Plan’s Pierre Bouvier, who finished the band’s song “Astronaut” on Earth after the Canadian Commander kicked it off on the International Space Station.

Hadfield was on the ISS for almost five months and while in orbit. The 53-year-old Commander not sang parts of a Simple Plan song while in space, but he also joined the Barenaked Ladies for a tune called “I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing,)” which he co-wrote with band member Ed Robertson.

Selena Gomez at the MTV Movie Awards (Getty Images)

We might have to start calling Selena Gomez “Snooki” as the pop singer has revealed that pickles are one of the things she needs to have with her while on the road.

"Incense, pickles always," the 20-year-old artist told MTV. "I don't know. I actually have a boring rider. I'll be honest... ramen. That's what I have. I'm more about food and apparently incense."

While the combination of pickles, ramen noodles and incense might seem odd, it’s still one of the tamest lists of items we’ve ever seen on a tour rider.

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Would it shock you to learn that the American public find Justin Bieber almost as unlikeable as Chris Brown?

Public Policy Polling issued a music-focused survey to 571 Americans nationwide on May 6 and 7, which were executed via automated telephone interviews, and found that 57 per cent of those polled had an unfavourable opinion of Brown, while 54 per cent disliked Bieber.

The artist who had the highest favourable opinion? That would go to Adele with 54 per cent, followed by Taylor Swift with 53 per cent.

Beyoncé is more likeable than her husband Jay-Z with a 51 per cent favourable opinion over his 25 per cent. That's not too surprising, since 50 per cent of voters chose rap as their least favourite genre of music.