Diddy's former right-hand man -- the guy who worked closely with Danity Kane back in the "Making the Band 3" days -- says their careers were unfairly cut short, and he LOVES the idea of a reunion.

TMZ broke the story ... the all-girl band Diddy created -- then ripped apart -- is getting back together without his blessing.

Now Conrad Dimanche tells TMZ, "I think it's a great idea and the fans would love it." He added that, in his eyes, the group only broke up due to "senseless differences."

Dimanche was an Executive Producer and A&R man for Diddy for 10 years ... and says he's ready to work with Danity Kane again if they reach out to him.

As for DK's bad blood with Diddy ... Dimanche says, "I couldn't speak for him on his thoughts of the girls reuniting, but I will say it would make the most sense if he was involved."

Dimanche must be a glutton for punishment ... 'cause things didn't exactly end on an up note his last go-around with DK.

Missy Elliott sure knows how to work it.

Here's the 26-year-old female rapper back in 1998 (left) -- and 15 years later, the 41-year-old gettin' her freak on at an event in Las Vegas this week (right).

She's supa dupa fly.

Akon has been ordered by a judge to cough up $5,000 a month in child support ... which would be considered MASSIVE ... except for the fact that he's raking in over $40,000 per month.

TMZ broke the story ... Akon filed a paternity case against Rozina Negusei (one of his many baby mamas) because he wanted the court to establish custody, child support and legally recognize him as daddy Akon to their two young sons.

As part of the process, Akon had to file docs about how much money he makes. He listed his income as $40,708/month and based on that number, a judge ordered him to pony up $5,000/month for the kids.

According to the docs, the judge took into consideration that Akon makes SIX other child support payments.

As for the rest of it ... Akon's baby mama received sole physical custody and the two will share legal custody. Akon also gets a say in all major decisions and will cover health insurance for the two boys.

Kendall Schmidt from "Big Time Rush" tried to do a nice thing for his fans in Europe ... but says he got screwed when the airlines lost his bag, and thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.

Schmidt -- BTR's lead singer on the TV show, and in the band -- is currently performing with his other band, Heffron Drive, on a European tour ... and wanted to give his fans some custom-made necklaces and bracelets.

According to our sources, Schmidt was flying from Orlando to Austria when the bag filled with the jewelry went missing.

We're told the luggage eventually resurfaced in Berlin, but the $7,000 worth of goodies had disappeared. We're told Schmidt filed a report with the airline ... in hopes of getting a cash reimbursement.

At least Schmidt was able to joke about it during his show in Vienna.

Just how replaceable ARE "American Idol" judges?  According to "Idol" champ Taylor Hicks ... SUPER DUPER REPLACEABLE.

Taylor was out in L.A. on Friday when our photog asked the season five winner the only interesting thing left to ask about "Idol" ... is it time to replace ALL the judges?

Randy Jackson -- the last remaining original judge -- made his exit after the season finale, and it's been reported that newbie judges Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Keith Urban are all on the chopping block.

But Taylor is unfazed by the "A.I" shake up and believes the "revolving door" of judges COULD be a way to save the slowly dying show.

And in case you forgot who Taylor is, here you go:

Kim Kardashian should think twice about taking her newborn baby on tour with Kanye West ... so says Aretha Franklin. 

Aretha was out in NYC today when we told her about Kim's plans to join Kanye on his upcoming tour in October ... newborn baby and all ... and Aretha had some stern words of warning for the pregnant reality star.

Worth noting ... Aretha looked great and sounded fantastic (she even sung a few notes for us), which is notable since she just canceled two shows scheduled for next week due to unspecified "health issues."

Take care, TCB.

The Rolling Stones weren't FORCED to drastically lower ticket prices for their current concert tour due to slow sales, they CHOSE to bring the cost down ... this according to guitarist Ronnie Wood.

The story has been everywhere -- more than 1,000 seats for a recent Stones show were slashed to $85 at the last minute ... and according to reports, it was all because the concert was drastically undersold.

But on the way out of Fred Segal in L.A. yesterday, Wood insisted the move wasn't motivated by $$$ -- instead, Wood says, the band just simply "wanted" to do it ... for the fans.

You buyin' that?

Kim Kardashian is NOT upset that Kanye West has decided to go on tour just a few months after the birth of their child ... because TMZ has learned, she plans to go with him, baby and all.

There are reports Kim felt like Kanye was abandoning her by scheduling a tour for his new album in October -- just three months after she's expected to give birth -- but sources close to the touring company tell us, that's not true ... because Kim and the baby are coming along for the ride.

And she's not messing around either -- we're told the touring company has already been given orders to arrange for cribs and soundproof hotel rooms at every stop.

Kanye hasn't announced whether his tour will go international -- but we all know the guy has an affinity for Paris, so we're guessing he'll most likely be heading overseas.

So with the baby coming as well as a new album ... we gotta ask ...

Kanye West says he's a "terrible, terrible, terrible celebrity" ... who sees the paparazzi as a distraction from making "real" music ... and last night, he bitched about it for a solid 3-and-a-half minutes.

West was on stage during a performance in NYC when he went on one of his trademark rants -- this time, he put the paps in his crosshairs.

He complained about the attention ... he complained about people wanting to take his photo ... though he never specifically talked about his run-in with a parking sign last week.

West also said he refuses to mock his rocky relationship with the paps when he appears on "SNL" this weekend because "it's not a joke."

Kanye also never mentioned his baby mama Kim Kardashian during the rant -- interesting considering she's a pro at handling the paps and has masterfully used the snappers to turbocharge her career.

You might think rapper Wiz Khalifa is high all the time -- but if you ask one LAX employee with a keen nose, there's no thinking about it ... he definitely is. Breathe deep!

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With no signs of morning sickness dehydration or exhaustion, a healthier Beyonce once again took to the stage in Belgium on Wednesday.

One day after postponing the Belgium concert -- and further fueling the pregnancy rumors -- Bey didn't disappoint her legions of fans and brought her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour to Antwerp.

While she was decked out in a form fitting Ralph & Russo body suit, there's still no official word if Blue Ivy's mom is performing for two -- but she doesn't look it ... yet.


Turns out Beyonce is really pregnant by the way. So there you go.