Jacob Lusk finished his run on "American Idol" in fifth place after being voted out on Thursday, and now it sounds like he feels he should've gone farther in the competition.
In a conference call with reporters Friday, the gospel crooner admitted that it was difficult to listen to "Idol" mentor Jimmy Iovine's negative comments about his song choices over the last few weeks. "It is definitely hard to have someone beat you over the head with a baseball bat, and then say go ahead and sing for your life," Lusk said.
He told reporters on the call that he had no complaints about the record producer, but he may be telling those close to him another story.
A source close to the 23-year-old singer told celebrity gossip site TMZ that Lusk is insisting that his questionable song choices were due to bad advice from Iovine. The "Idol" judges all criticized Lusk for choosing the wrong tune when he performed the Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown duet "No Air" on Wednesday's performance show, and the source said that wasn't the singer's fault. The source told TMZ that Lusk wanted to sing Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," but that Iovine "beat ('No Air') into his brain" until the crooner gave in.
Whether Iovine merely suggested "No Air" to Lusk or "beat it into" him as the source says, the gospel singer wasn't the only one to get questionable song advice this week. Haley Reinhart performed Lady Gaga's unreleased tune "You and I" at Iovine's suggestion and was criticized for it. "I'm just not sure that was the best advice Jimmy gave you," judge Jennifer Lopez said after the risky performance.
What do you think? Did Lusk just not sing well on "No Air," or was his elimination due to bad song choice? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
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