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"Nicki Minaj is known for her over-the-top stage persona, but her performance at Sunday&amp;apos;s 54th Annual Grammy Awards took things to a whole new level.\r\nWearing an Oscar de la Renta dress, the 29-year-old shocked viewers when she performed her new song &amp;quot;Roman Holiday&amp;quot; for the very first time. Channeling her alter ego Roman Zolanski, Minaj&amp;apos;s performance pushed religious boundaries.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I had this vision for Roman for him to be sort of exorcised,&amp;quot; she explained on Ryan Seacrest&amp;apos;s KIIS-FM radio show Monday. &amp;quot;People around him tell him he&amp;apos;s not good enough because he&amp;apos;s not normal and he&amp;apos;s not blending in with the Average Joe.&amp;quot;\r\nThe Grammy nominee&amp;apos;s performance included a Catholic confessional, demonic possession, dancing monks and a levitation scene.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;The people around him are afraid because they&amp;apos;ve never seen anything like him. He wanted to show that not only is he amazing . . . but he&amp;apos;s never going to change. He&amp;apos;s never going to be exorcised,&amp;quot; Minaj said. &amp;quot;Even when they throw the holy water on him, he still rises above.&amp;quot;\r\nThe rapper&amp;apos;s performance angered the the right-wing Catholic League, who issued a press release condemning it Monday. &amp;quot;Whether Minaj is possessed is surely an open question,&amp;quot; president Bill Donohue said, &amp;quot;but what is not in doubt is the irresponsibility of The Recording Academy. Never would they allow an artist to insult Judaism or Islam.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;It&amp;apos;s bad enough that Catholics have to fight for their rights vis-a-vis a hostile administration in Washington without also having to fend off attacks in the entertainment industry,&amp;quot; Donohue seethed. &amp;quot;The net effect, however, will only embolden Catholics, as well as their friends in other faith communities.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nMinaj, meanwhile, stands behind her elaborate stage show. &amp;quot;It&amp;apos;s the most comfortable I&amp;apos;ve ever been onstage in my entire life,&amp;quot; she said.\r\nTell Us: Did you find Nicki Minaj&amp;apos;s &amp;quot;Roman Holiday&amp;quot; performance offensive?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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