Katy Perry gets booed on American Idol for the first time

The American Idol crowd didn't try to hide their anger on the show this week as they booed Katy Perry for the first time over her criticism of a contestant.

Having sparked controversy with her comments to former contestant Sara Beth Liebe last month, Perry's obviously not out of the woods just yet.

The 'Teenage Dream' singer riled up audiences during Monday's episode (17 April) of the singing contest, when 25-year-old Nutsa took to the stage to perform as part of the show's Top 26.

The contestant, from Tbilisi, Georgia, gave everything she had as she sang 'Paris (Ooh La La)' by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals to the judges, who also include Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.

Nutsa showed off a powerful voice which quickly earned smiles from Richie and Bryan, though Perry looked stunned more than anything at first.

After her performance came to an end, Perry commented: "Nutsa, every time you take the stage, it's like you glitter bomb the stage.

"Listen, I think one thing I personally would like to see from you is not one piece of glitter the next time. I know that's gonna be hard."

Perry looked stunned at Nutsa's performance. Credit ABC

Though it's Perry's job as a judge to give feedback, the crowd were obviously not happy with this particular piece of advice as they burst into a series of boos.

Richie picked up on the mood as he commented: "Whoa, hostility!" though Bryan seemed more amused by the situation as he responded: "Yes! Katy got booed. Katy got booed."

The reaction from the crowd marked the first time Perry has been booed during her time on the show, and the singer refused to let it get to her.

"OK, first time in six seasons, woo hoo!" she responded to the crowd.

ABC

Perry then attempted to better explain her feedback, telling Nutsa: "But what I'm saying is that, I'd like you to flip the script. I think we want to be pulled in by our hearts too. I'd love to see that, and I think America might too."

Though the crowd in Hawaii weren't all on Perry's side, the singer did get some support from people at home as one viewer tweeted: "I agree with @katyperry I would like to see Nutsa show us more of her heart. We’ve seen the sexy, glittery, all season. Switch it up."

Nutsa herself had every opportunity to boo Perry, but since that probably wouldn't have gone down too well she instead agreed with the singer and promised to give a more meaningful performance in the future.

Topics: Katy Perry, American Idol, Music, Celebrity

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.