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Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj’s super hyped feud wasn’t enough to get viewers to tune in to the American Idol premiere in record numbers.

Last night Idol was seen by over 17 million people, a number that isn’t bad in the grand scheme of things, but puts the debut in last place among its more than 10 seasons. The figures don’t include the 2001 premiere which occurred in the summer, numbers of which are not counted.

Losing viewership in the coveted 18-49 demo goes against producers intentions of adding Minaj, Carey and country star Keith Urban to the mix, in attempts to grab young viewers.

Idol also saw a 19 percent drop from January of last year, when judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler were at the helm. 2012’s season opener brought in 21 million viewers, a number that was still lower than past Idol premieres.

As a whole, Fox pretty much trampled competition brought on by the other three networks, except CBS. ABC’s Modern Family, which aired a new episode, fell 10 percent; over on CBS, encore presentations of NCSI and Criminal Minds were down but still took in 21 million viewers, and everything on NBC dropped in the ratings.

The second installment of the Fox singing competition’s premiere airs tonight at 8 p.m.

Photo: ABC News