It was the verbal barb that felt like a physical slap in American Idol judge Harry Connick Jr.’s face. Following a reveal of the bottom two on the show Wednesday night, season 14 finalist Quentin Alexander — safe for now — told host Ryan Seacrest, “This whole thing is wack” and characterized the moment simply as, “this sucks.”
His comments did not go over well with the judges, Harry Connick Jr. in particular was incensed as what he perceived to be disrespectful. “If it’s that wack, you can always go home,” the judge chastised. “Idol is paying a lot of money to give you this experience, and for you to say that to the hand that is feeding you right now… is highly disrespectful.”
‘American Idol’ Recap: Top 6 Perform American Classics
Alexander later apologized and explained himself on-air, a campaign that continued backstage where he told Billboard:
“I want to clarify: I wasn’t disrespectful with anyone. It was me being honest with the moment and honest with myself and honest with everyone else. I love Harry Connick Jr. I would never disrespect this man that gave me this opportunity. It was just a conversation that was aired on TV. No negativity, no hard feelings. We shook hands [afterwards] and I hope that he is not feeling any bad things. My intention was not to disrespect him. We all know that I have those eyes. And everything goes through my eyes. And it looked like I was going to go punch him, but I would never do that. I respect him too much.”
Still, the 20-year-old Louisiana native stopped short of taking it back. “If I could re-do the night, I wouldn’t do anything differently,” said Alexander. “I wouldn’t change anything about my performances, I wouldn’t change that moment with Harry because ultimately, it is the real. It’s a reality television show. The truth is it was real emotions — real feelings, real relationships… That was a real moment for myself as well as the world. For me, it felt like my family was being ripped apart. It hurt. So for me to go back and change and put on a façade and paint on a smile, that would be disrespectful to myself and to America [because I would be] lying.”
‘American Idol’: Watch Harry Connick Jr., Quentin Alexander Clash Over ‘This is Wack’ Comment
What did his fellow finalists and mentor Scott Borchetta have to say? Read on…
Scott Borchetta: “I was loving every minute of it. That’s what live television and rock and roll is all about. There is no reason that the world should be so PC and so boring. Quentin was obviously very moved and felt very strongly. And he vocalized his emotions and that is what a great artist does.”
Nick Fradiani: “It was an emotional little outburst. I don’t think he meant it in a punky way. It was not him completely. Quentin’s my roommate, I love the kid — he’s real soft-spoken and kind. He is also very emotional. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He and Joey [Cook] bonded and became very close friends, so he was upset seeing her potentially going home and I think he was also very excited about his song and didn’t agree with some of the judges comments. He had a moment and the only difference her is every little thing is nitpicked and voted on. But it definitely made for good TV.”
Tyanna Jones: “I was 100 percent confused..I completely understand where Quentin was coming from. Seeing someone leave really does suck. It hit him really hard. I think it was very reasonable and amazing of him to go back and apologize.”
Clark Beckham: “That was quite a dramatic moment. We are family. Our family isn’t here. We don’t have friends here. We have each other. That’s all we have. These are the people we have been with for four or five months. So when they leave us this is going to bring out real, dramatic, raw emotion. It is very hard to see people go.”
Rayvon Owen: “To get up in front of the judges and all these people, that’s huge… It shows you how close we are and how much we do believe in each other. It’s not fake. That shows you how real it is. It’s sad to see one person leave each week.”