By ,
Published January 14, 2015
Red-headed crooner John Stevens (search), the 16-year-old boy-next-door type from East Amherst, N.Y., was cut from Wednesday night's "American Idol." (search)
After last week's viewer vote went against favorite Jennifer Hudson, the show's judges said Wednesday night's results made more sense.
"Definitely the right bottom three tonight," judge Randy Jackson (search) said of the voting.
Stevens even told "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest (search) he was "somewhat" relieved that his journey had ended. Many "Idol" fans felt Stevens should have been voted off weeks ago.
Last week's results, when Hudson was booted, caused a major brouhaha that included claims of rigged votes and racism. That week, the singers dubbed "The Three Divas" — Hudson, Fantasia Barrino and La Toya London — ended up with the low vote counts. Pop star Elton John, who has participated in the show recently, fueled the controversy when said he suspected racial bias was a factor in the voting. Hudson, London and Barrino are all African American.
But London, Barrino and Diana DeGarmo were in the top tier Wednesday night while Stevens was up for elimination with George Huff and Jasmine Trias.
Judge Simon Cowell said Wednesday that if the contest was based solely on talent, London and Barrino would be the finalists, but he predicted DeGarmo would edge out Barrino in the final two.
Cowell also told Stevens he "took every bullet like a man" throughout the show.
More than 28 million people voted after Tuesday's live episode, when the contestants performed the music of Gloria Estefan - who was the guest judge that night.
The live finale of the show that's been averaging upwards of 20 million viewers a week airs next month.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/john-stevens-finally-axed-on-idol