`American Idol` contestants family to me, says Nicki Minaj

Los Angeles: Singer Nicki Minaj, who has been blasted for making harsh comments on ‘American Idol’ contestants, says she cares for them and that her remarks are usually misinterpreted. "I know that sometimes when I speak in a really blunt way like I do, people take that as me not loving and caring about these people," contactmusic.com quoted Minaj, who is judging season 12 of the singing reality show, as saying. "But I really do, I feel like they are family to me. But I feel like I am not doing them a service if I blow smoke up their a**, and I just refuse to do that," she added. Not only that, Minaj gets upset when some of the contestants are eliminated. She couldn`t hold back her tears when Burnell Taylor recently left the competition. IANS