Oops, she won't be doing it again: An "X Factor" insider has confirmed to Yahoo!'s Reality Rocks that, after just one season, Britney Spears is not returning to judge "The X Factor" this fall. (Fox had no comment.)

A source close to production said: "Simon [Cowell] and the producers have already been discussing this year's new judging lineup over the holiday, and they have a plan for who they would like already, but Britney has never played a part in those discussions.

"The reality is that toward the end of last season, the main players at the production companies knew they wanted to replace her. She was always a gamble, and a second season always seemed unlikely. She and her team knew it was unlikely that she'd be asked back."

Nicki Minaj at the 'Idol' Season 12 premiere [photo: Jonathan Leibson/WireImage]"American Idol" Season 12 doesn't officially begin until January 16, and it remains to be seen if this upcoming season will uncover/discover a new singing superstar of Clarkson- or Underwood-esque proportions. But judging from a 45-minute "Idol" preview that screened in 11 locations across the nation on Wednesday, January 9--a full week before the Fox network's premiere--Season 12 may already have a breakout star: the one and only Her Minajesty, Nicki Minaj.

Nicki was in fact so watchable, and so unexpectedly likable, that I almost wondered if the whole reason behind that much-hyped Nicki Minaj/Mariah Carey "Idol" feud was Mariah's, well, jealousy. You see, Mariah may've claimed that Nicki once threatened to shoot her, but maybe Mariah really felt threatened by Nicki's massive, scene-stealing, scenery-chewing presence. Because honestly, when Nicki was on the screen this Wednesday, I barely noticed that Mariah, or anyone else, was even sitting at the judges' table. It was totally "The

photo: FoxThe golden boys of last year's "X Factor," Emblem3, have made it official: They've signed to their mentor Simon Cowell's label, Syco Records, via Columbia. This makes them the first act from Season 2 to land a record deal--aside from winner Tate Stevens and his much-ballyhooed $5 million contract with former judge L.A. Reid's Epic Records, of course.