Channeling Jacko
NEYO, who wrote for Michael Jackson’s unfinished last album, remembered the icon’s birthday Wednesday night. “Whenever I get to that place like, damn, Mike is gone, I can listen back to those songs and [think of] the time that we met,” the singer told us of the unreleased tracks at Pepsi/ Billboard’s Summer Beats Concert at Gotham Hall. “His first words to me when he walked into the room were, ‘You know what my favorite song of yours is,’ and he started singing lyrics . . . I almost fainted. I didn’t, but I came this close.” NeYo performed the King of Pop’s “Smooth Criminal,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” and “The Way You Make Me Feel.”
Nicki in cola clash
NICKI Minaj’s “American Idol” contract is almost signed, but her deal with Pepsi is holding it up. Pepsi sponsors her tour, but “Idol” is sponsored by Coca–Cola, so they’re hashing out how to get around the sticky cola issue. We’re told “Idol” execs want to announce Minaj as a judge as soon as possible, before the auditions start filming in the next week or two. Sources say producers “want to see that drama between Nicki and Mariah Carey. It’ll make for good TV.” It seems there will now be four judges — country singer Randy Travis was in consideration until he had his “epic boozefueled meltdown.” Now Keith Urban and Brad Paisley are in talks. “Idol” producers had hoped to get Enrique Iglesias, but, “He’s a private guy and doesn’t want to expose his life to the show,” our source said.