Things got tense on American Idol last night between judge Harry Connick Jr. and contestant Quentin Alexander.
Quentin, who performed Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way," voiced his displeasure at Joey Cook and Rayvon Owen being in danger of elimination, calling it "wack." "This sucks," he told Ryan Seacrest pointing to the stage with Joey and Rayvon in the danger seats. "We have two of the best vocalists, my best friend is sitting over there. This whole thing is wack, but I'm going to shut up right now."
Harry responded to the upset contestant during the show. "Quentin, if it's that wack, then you can always go home because Idol is paying a lot of money to give you this experience and for you to say that to this hand that is feeding you right now, I think is highly disrespectful," Harry said, thinking he meant the whole competition.
Quentin came back out and defended his comments, clarifying he didn't mean American Idol was "wack," just that the people in the bottom two was "wack." "For my personal feelings, it sucks to see two people I've grown to love go home," he explained. "That's what I mean by it being ‘wack.' I'm not disrespecting this competition."
Backstage, Jennifer Lopez told E! News' Jesse Giddings that she understood where Quentin was coming from, but there's a time and a place.
"Listen, I understand what it is to have emotions, to be emotional, to feel deeply. We all do," she said. "But when you're in show business, it is your job to be in control and always put your best foot forward. Always. It's called show business. You can go home and complain later…"
There aren't any hard feelings between Harry and Quentin. That tense moment is in the past for them now. "I felt for him even before he had a chance to explain. I feel for all of them," Harry told us. "I think he probably wishes he could have that back, but he came out and said, ‘I didn't mean any disrespect' and it's in the rearview mirror now.
In the end, Quentin's BFF Joey went home. Check out the video above for more from the judges, Quentin and Joey.
American Idol airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox.