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‘American Idol’ fans slam judges after an unexpected Top 7 save: ‘The wrong person went home...'

The reveal of Top 7 contestants on 'American Idol' disappoints fans, as the show sent one of their early favorites back home

As 'American Idol' season 23 progresses, the stakes are seemingly high with contestants like Josh King, Thunderstorm Artis, John Foster, Jamal Roberts, Mattie Pruitt, Slater Nalley, Gabby Samone, and Breanna Nix competing to be in the top 7. While Judge Carrie Underwood excluded herself from the high-pressure of making a decision, per ScreenRant, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie had no choice but to make the tough call. During the recent episode on May 5, the top 8 finalists had to choose one out of three songs selected by each of the judges (and submitted anonymously). If a contestant chose a judge's song, that judge would earn a point, which would give them a one-time-only opportunity to save one of the bottom contestants from being eliminated.

Turned out after the performances wrapped up, Richie and Bryan both were on a tie with Samone, King, and Roberts, picking up former judges' song 'Dancing on the ceiling', and Foster, Artis, and Nalley choosing the song selected by the latter judge, 'Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day'. While Pruitt and Nix concluded the performances with a duet on Underwood's 'Something in the Water.' After the performances wrapped up, the votes revealed Pruitt and King to be in the bottom two, leaving both Richie and Bryan to face a tough choice. However, they ended up choosing Pruitt, making her a top 7 finalist. Even King seemed to have prompted the judges to save Pruitt by nodding his head in her direction, per People. However, whether the judges made the right decision or not remains to be seen, but if you ask the fans, their minds are already made up.

One fan in the YouTube comments section wrote, "Her voice is not good. Sad that they voted off Kolbi. She was way better than Mattie." On Twitter as well, fans openly expressed their dismay, "See? I told you, but Mattie Pruitt should’ve gone home instead of Josh. She can’t sing, but what saved her (aside from the judges) were her vocals in that group performance lol she should’ve been singing to that extent right when the competition started."Another wrote, "Mattie didn’t deserve the save on #Americanidol tonight. Josh was better tonight, and she has been mediocre the past two weeks. The wrong person went home."

Despite being eliminated, King was only grateful for having his run on the show. "This gave me a wonderful experience performing in front of massive live audiences again,” King said. He added, “I got to feel crowds again. It’s such a wonderful feeling." And that energy is fueling not just King, but the entire top seven. “It’s basically how bad do you want it at this point,” said Roberts.

“I want it real bad, so I gotta keep pushing, and I gotta keep doing what I’m doing now.” The judges are feeling it too—host Ryan Seacrest noted, “I think they have been moved—emotionally moved—more so by these performers than maybe ever in the past." Underwood also chimed in, “I want them to shine... we want these hopefuls to do a great job,” as reported by ABC7News. Per the outlet, in the next episode scheduled to air on Sunday, May 11, viewers will see Lin-Manuel Miranda stepping in as guest mentor, and the pressure is only going to rise as competition further narrows down from the Top 7 to the Top 5.