On March 19, Kobyn Melton, whose stage name is \u2018Insite,\u2019 wowed all three judges, including Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan, and Carrie Underwood, with his high-energy metal performance on Korn\u2019s \u2018Freak on a Leash\u2019 and a duet with Underwood, on Drowning Pool\u2019s hit song, \u2018Bodies.\u2019 However, Melton\u2019s run on the show was brief; he was eliminated after his second performance in Hollywood Week, where he sang \u2018Rooster\u2019 by Alice in Chains. Later, in an interview with LoudWire, Melton made some controversial claims, stating that he was eliminated not because of his performance but because he did not fit into \u2018American Idol\u2019s\u2019 mold. \u201cThey made me cut the song. I was only able to do half of the verse, half of the pre-chorus, and half of the chorus,\u201d he told the outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained, \u201cWhile some of the other contestants\u2019 performances were around two to three minutes, mine was cut short to nearly 60 to 90 seconds, with only about 20 to 30 seconds of it being aired. I think by making my Hollywood Week performance look bad, it\u2019s the easiest way for them to get me off the show without it seeming like my audition was a gimmick.\u201d When asked if given a second chance, would he choose to sing the same song? He responded, \u201cI\u2019ve performed and practiced \u2018Rooster\u2019 more times than I can count. There are even videos up on my social media where I\u2019ve done \u2018Rooster,\u2019 and it sounds good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite what happened, Melton harbors no grudges towards the show. \u201cBeing the first contestant in all the seasons to have gotten a golden ticket doing this kind of music feels like a huge accomplishment to me,\u201d he shared with the aforementioned outlet. Speaking of how he got auditioning for the hit singing competition, he said, \u201cI had no intentions of auditioning for \u2018American Idol\u2019 until one of the casting directors randomly reached out to me and asked if I wanted to. After going through numerous Zoom auditions and interviews, I finally got the green light that I\u2019d be auditioning for the judges.\u201d He also admitted that performing metal on the \u2018American Idol\u2019 stage was a bold move, which also made him nervous during the audition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n