Mariah Carey finally has some company behind the American Idol judging table! (Or underneath it, depending on how things play out.) Us Weekly reports, with language ranging from “two sources confirm” to “a few more slight things to sign off on but it is happening” to “100 percent confirmed,” that Nicki Minaj is joining the show as a judge in short order. (To recap the judging situation, for those who’ve already lost track and/or have important things happening in their lives: J.Lo out, Steven Tyler out, Randy to mentor, Mariah in. Britney still on that other show.)

The Nicki news is exciting because, uh, all the crazy ‘dos? The potential Classic Abdul Factor of her selection? The hope that each heated disagreement over a contestant’s talent might end with Carey and Minaj tangled in multicolored/luscious fistfuls of each other’s hair? With one or two more judging slots still to be filled (Us says that Joe Jonas and Pharrell Williams are under consideration), it’s difficult to speculate about how Minaj will fit in on the panel. But as long as we’re dreaming about how great the show could be with a couple more well-designed tweaks, why not sign up a Jonas (it doesn’t even need to be the Joe one) to fill a seat, and team up Randy (that mentor demotion was some bullshit, anyway) and Nicki as a kind of Master Blaster–style hybrid judge? With Britney Spears and Demi Lovato sharing a similar arrangement on The X Factor, it makes all the sense in the world to try to keep pace with evil mastermind Simon Cowell’s judging abominations.