Nicki Minaj Panned For Onstage Excorism at Grammys
Rapper/singer Nicki Minaj performs onstage at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
While Nicki Minaj failed to win a Grammy for “Best New Artist” on Sunday night, the burgeoning rap star did succeed in being one of the most discussed singers following the telecast, but not for the most career-boosting of reasons.
Minaji sent the blogosphere into overdrive early in the evening when she arrived on the red carpet supposedly channeling her “Roman Zolanski” alter ego. That required a custom-made Atelier Versace outfit consisting of a blood-red, nun-inspired satin robe. Her “date” was an older man dressed to resemble the pope.
The rapper then debuted a new song from her forthcoming album “Roman Reloaded,” taking religious symbolism to a whole new level of weirdness. Her “performance” consisted of an onstage exorcism, seemingly on herself, complete with levitations, fire, lighting and gibberish. As a white-hooded, goth-like church choir sang a chilling rendition of “Come All Ye Faithful,” Minaj strapped herself to a leather table and was lifted into the air as flames burned beneath.
The mood backstage was a mixture of confusion, embarrassment and offense as the performance dragged on, going deeper and deeper in mocking Catholic faith. In a pre-taped skit which was broadcast before her live showdown, Minaj sang “I Feel Pretty,” while putting on lipstick to set the stage for the insanity, and the same priest-figure was brought into her room to find out what was wrong with the “sick child.”
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)