Michael Becker / FOXAfter tonight's not-so-shocking American Idol elimination, we were kind of surprised to see James Durbin get as emotional as he did after the cameras stopped rolling.
While the eliminee seemed to accept his loss, James clearly wasn't happy with the results.
So what exactly happened?
Every Idol fan knew it was only a matter of time before Stefano Langone's spotlight would go out. After repeatedly landing in the bottom three, it was obvious he wasn't a fan favorite. But his number was up, even though Jennifer Lopez may love him—and from our seat behind the judges table, it was obvious James does too.
After Haley Reinhart was sent to safety and the show cut to commercial, Jacob Lusk didn't seem to know what to do. If he wasn't fidgeting in his chair or pacing around the Idol stage ignoring the screaming fans, he looked dazed, confused and totally lost that he was thisclose to losing his shot at Idol glory. Stefano, on the other hand, was totally relaxed. It seemed like he knew what was coming: He took time to hug Idol's stage manager and other production people and even wandered over to the couches where he and James embraced in one big, fat, bro hug. It was really cute and actually made us a little sad.
As the results were read, James sat on the couch hunched over, his head in his hands. He couldn't even look up when Ryan Seacrest told Stefano his time on Idol was over. We even spotted James wiping away tears! He may be an edgy rocker on the outside, but he's truly an emotional guy and was honestly upset to see Stefano go. So much so that after the show ended, instead of lingering onstage with the other contestants, James took off without so much as a glance to anyone, head hung down, obviously disappointed with America's decision.
Speaking of disappointment, want to know a secret? The Katy Perry "E.T." wannabe Lady Gaga performance with a surprise cameo of Kanye West wasn't live. Because of the fancy lasers, lobster-skeleton-looking throne she was pushed around on and the choreography, it had to be taped after last week's performance show. We were there, and it took more than 40 minutes to set up, then Katy performed it three times. So when Ryan Seacrest announced Katy, the entire Idol audience stood up to get a good look—only to be utterly confused and, dare we say, pissed that they weren't seeing Mrs. Brand in all her Top 40 pop glory.
Do you think James should have held his emotions in? Was Stefano the right person to be eliminated? Do you think Katy Perry was trying too hard to be like Lady Gaga? Let us know in the comments!