Is Jacob Lusk Blaming Jimmy Iovine for His 'Idol' Elimination?

Jacob Lusk had a good run on season 10 of American Idol, before being eliminated on Thursday. But the 23-year-old gospel singer may feel that his ousting was premature -- and the result of bad coaching by Idol's mentor Jimmy Iovine.

"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, during a conference call with reporters.

The crooner, who came in fifth on the show, went on to say that he had no complaints about the record producer, but insiders are buzzing that, behind the scenes, Jacob is singing a different tune. A source close to Lusk told TMZ.com that Jacob never wanted to perform the Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown duet "No Air" on Wednesday's show, but Iovine pressured him into it. The insider says Lusk really wanted to perform the Gnarls Barkley hit "Crazy" -- but that Iovine reacted so negatively that the contestant finally gave in.

The judges were ultimately left cold from Jacob's performance, with Randy Jackson telling him, "I don’t think that’s the direction for you ... I don't think anybody on this stage should be doing duet songs."

Lusk may want to blame Iovine for his elimination, but set sources say executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has told every contestant the decision on final song choice is made by the singer and not by the mentor.

Idol's final four perform this Wednesday -- and we hope they're happy with their song choice going in!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/jacob-lusk-blaming-jimmy-iovine-his-idol-elimination/1-a-347823

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