AMERICAN IDOL Contestants React to Jermaine Jones Elimination

The top 12 finalists were reduced to the Top 11 this week as the competition's "gentle giant" Jermaine Jones was eliminated for failing to disclose criminal charges against him. Since Jermaine still has four active warrants out for his arrest - and because he failed to come clean from the beginning - Idol producers had no choice but to let him go.

At the beginning of last night's show, host Ryan Seacrest announced that a contestant was eliminated from the competition but held off revealing details until later in the episode. The long-running Fox series has dealt with legal issues in the past, including Season 2's Corey Clark who was eliminated after it was discovered he had a charge of battery pending. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jones' exit from the show was so quick that the remaining Idol finalists did not have a chance to say goodbye. Said Colton Dixon, “It was a bummer. We didn’t get to say goodbye. We didn’t know what happened or how it happened - we just heard he was gone.”

Contestant Skylar Laine shared similar thoughts, “It was really hard to look at the camera and smile after I saw the video,” she said. “It's sad.”

Fellow contestant Erika Van Pelt was surprised that Jones' legal issues were not revealed during the detailed background checks that the contestants went through. “It was so extensive, which is another reason why we were so shocked and confused that this was all of a sudden surfacing. Even after all the drama with him being brought back after being cut on the sing-for-your-life round - for him to come back and be kicked off again?” She added, "I feel like the production end of it was actually good and they handled it in a way that Jermaine's fans at home and America in general got to find out what's going on in a respectful manner. Ken and Nigel were very complimentary of him as he was exiting. And I thought he got to exit with grace and poise - as well as he could under the circumstances.”

Contestant Heejun Han valiantly was sympathetic to Jones, commenting, “The only thing you had to do was be honest about it and say what happened to your life,” Han explained of the vetting process. “I would've done the same thing as Jermaine, because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you don't want to ruin it by saying the wrong things.”

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