American Idol's Lazaro Arbos cried onstage during Wednesday night's performance show after he received bad reviews from the show's twelfth-season judging panel.

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"I still feel like you are not back to the Lazaro I remember. I don't know what it is. I need them to stop putting you in the room with [Jimmy Iovine]. I can't take it anymore. Your confidence is different now, Lazaro... [Nerves]? When you used to go on the stage, you used to be owning it honey child," Nicki Minaj began.

"And now I don't know. You've got to pick the right key that's going to show your voice. You know what you do, Lazaro, don't let anybody tell you what you need to do. Where's your mind? I don't know if it's something personal, but something is bothering you babe. I need you back."

Judge Randy Jackson's comments ultimately tore apart Lazaro, a 21-year-old from Naples, FL.

"Look, I mean, honestly for me, I think that was your worst performance ever," Randy said.

"It was out of tune from beginning to end, and I think everyone's right talking about the key, but I don't know. Something's definitely happened to you, and I think, I don't know. I'm starting to wonder, 'Where did the vocals go? Where did the vocals go?' I don't know. You're just not hitting it on all cylinders right now vocally."

Mariah Carey and Keith Urban also agreed the key was just not suited for the strengths in Lazaro's range.

"It might've been nice to hear it with just an acoustic guitar and it was a little bit low for you in my opinion. It could've been perhaps slightly like a half-step higher. But again, when I look at you, it's about your courage and your perseverance," Mariah said.

"Choosing the key of the song is really important because you have a very big range and you can sing in several different keys... One of them is going to bring out the tone in your voice," Keith noted.

Following the judges' criticism, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest asked a teary-eyed Lazaro if he was okay.

"Well, I learned that song like last night. I had chosen a different song, but because of [something] we had to change it," Lazaro explained. 

"Hang in there buddy. Wipe those tears off, alright?" Ryan told him.

Paul Jolley, a 22-year-old from Palmersville, TN, also failed to impress the judges and took a slight beating.

"I like that jacket and I like that shirt and I like them skinny jeans -- I did not like your performance Joll," Nicki said. "You know why? Very, very safe, very bland and forgettable."

"I think by the time you hit your sweet notes at the end, that's when you always come excited. I think Jimmy was giving you really good advice, but I don't know. My thing for me is that I felt like you were disconnected from the song, like you never quite got into it. I mean, vocally you were there, but, honestly," Randy explained.

"I would say you have to be able to give as much emotion when you're singing softly as when you're at the top of your range or your mid-range. So because the lyrics are so amazing on this song, it's something where you need to like pretend that you wrote it and it's coming from you and just give that to us. And that's what we really need from you," Mariah suggested, adding he should be a pop star who created uptempo tracks.

"I just never understood the country thing with you, because I think you're voice is so amazing, take advantage of it. Get on some hard-driving track and do something big. You never know darling."

"I wasn't a big fan of the falsetto note at the end, but what I did like about the song is that there were parts of the song -- in the middle particularly -- where you've got this kind of pop/rock edge to your voice. I don't hear the country thing either. I think there's a more pop/rock edge to it in a really cool way," Keith told him.

Paul admitted he loved the song and connected to its lyrics. Despite the judges' comments, Paul told Ryan he aspires to become an artist similar to Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift.

Tonight's American Idol results show broadcast will feature one of the Top 9 finalists -- Amber Holcomb, Angela "Angie" Miller, Burnell Taylor, Candice Glover, Devin Velez, Janelle Arthur, Kree Harrison, Lazaro, and Paul  -- getting eliminated based upon home viewers' votes following Wednesday night's performance show.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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