James Durbin Sobs After American Idol Elimination

JAMES DURBIN, the 22-year-old singer from Santa Cruz, California, sobbed after being eliminated from American Idol during last night's results show (12th May 2011). JAMES DURBIN, a favourite with the show's judges, missed out on a place in the final three and looked visibly shaken when given the bad news by Ryan Seacrest.

The departure of rocker James leaves 17-year-old country singer SCOTT MCCREERY, 16-year-old LAUREN ALAINA and 20-year-old Haley Reinhart left in this year's competition. Durbin was widely regarded as a certainty to reach the finals after receiving universal praise from the judges on Wednesday's show, but he received the least amount of support from the record-breaking 72 million voters. With tears running down his face, a stunned Durbin said, "I worked so damn hard and I was hoping to get there. But I did so much stuff that's never been done on the show. I did what I came here to do, and that was to give metal a chance". Judge Jennifer Lopez began crying while Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler looked bewildered at the public's decision. During this week's performances, Haley Reinhart was heavily criticised for her rendition of Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song'.

Following his elimination, JAMES DURBIN took to the 'Idol' stage for one last performance, singing the Paul McCartney track 'Maybe I'm Amazed', which he tackled during the second week of the live finals.