The season finale of American Idol on May 16 was exciting, but it was Mariah Carey’s potential diss towards Jennifer Lopez that caught viewers’ attention! At the end of J.Lo’s performance of “Live It Up,” it appeared as though Mariah refrained from giving a standing ovation while her fellow judges Randy Jackson, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj leapt to their feet.

Mariah Carey: Jennifer Lopez Diss Never Happened — Dress Too Tight To Stand

However, an eyewitness tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively, “During the entire performance, Mariah was dancing in her chair and loving every single minute of it. When the confetti dropped, Mariah took some of it and waved it around in celebration of how well J.Lo did. She eventually stood up, but cameras might have not caught it, and her dresses don’t allow her to get up that often. But overall, Mariah couldn’t have been happier with the performance. Whatever was caught on TV must have been misconstrued — the entire look and feel of things — but she was a huge fan of the performance. There is no feud.”

Mariah Carey & Jennifer Lopez’s Complicated Past

The fellow pop stars do have a complicated history. Around 2001, Mariah’s Sony boss ex-husband Tommy Mottola reportedly gave Jennifer material Mariah had wanted for her Glitter soundtrack after she left his label. Following Mariah’s divorce from Tommy, the music exec allegedly tailored J.Lo to be the next Mariah. Also, Mariah reportedly demanded to be paid $2 million more than Jennifer to appear on Idol.

What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Whose side are you on?

WATCH: American Idol Finale: Mariah Carey Disses JLO

— Chris Rogers, Reporting by Russ Weakland
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@ChrisRogers86

More Mariah Carey Vs. Jennifer Lopez News:

1. Mariah Carey Disses Jennifer Lopez: Refuses To Give Her Standing Ovation
2. Mariah Carey Vs. Jennifer Lopez: Who Had The Better ‘Idol’ Performance?

Kree Harrison has certainly had a rough life — both her parents were killed in separate car and plane crashes — but she proved, once again, that she can weather any storm when she lost the American Idol title to Candice Glover on May 16. Speaking to HollywoodLife.com about how it’s just the “beginning,” Kree reveals that “this is not the end of the road.”

Kree Harrison Loses ‘American Idol’ – Her Reaction To Being Runner-Up

Asked if she was happy for Candice, Kree told HollywoodLife.com, “Well yeah!”

Then, when asked how she really felt about losing, she said, “You know what, we’re both standing there and the beauty of Candice and I is that we are both totally different artists. We are both so driven for each other’s careers and I just felt like it was the beginning. This is not the end of the road for any of us. I’m so proud of her and I am proud of myself for getting this far and I couldn’t believe I was standing there with her at the finale.”

It’s nice that Kree has such a positive attitude and it’s clear she’s proud of Candice.

Candice Glover Wins Season 12

Upon being crowned the winner, Candice said, “three years” as she tried to hold back tears, referencing how she tried out for season 9 and 11 before winning the current season. Kree was clearly proud of her friend as she hugged her and had a huge smile on her face, following the announcement.

Candice sobbed her way through her new single “I Am Beautiful,” as the rest of the Top 10 crowded around her on stage, congratulating her on winning the title.

What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Did the right person win?

WATCH: American Idol Finale: Candice Wins As Mariah Carey Disses JLO

— Chris Rogers, Reporting by Russ Weakland
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@ChrisRogers86

More ‘American Idol’ News:

1. Candice Glover ‘American Idol’ Winner — Candice Should Win
2. American Idol Winner — Candice Glover Should Win Season 12
3. ‘American Idol’ Finale — Kree Harrison & Candice Glover Face Off

Candice Glover auditioned three times and beat off thousands of other contestants to win American Idol, and there has never been a more worthy winner! Speaking to HollywoodLife.com about the “amazing” moment when she won, Candice reveals that she was so sure that her rival Kree Harrison was going to be the winner!

Candice Glover Talks About Winning ‘American Idol’

After Candice’s amazing winning moment, she told HollywoodLife.com how it felt to win American Idol after trying out three times:

“I’m still trying to process it. I don’t even know my name! Oh my gosh! I don’t know what’s happening! It feels amazing though to finally have gotten to this point after working so hard for so long.”

Candice is so cute! She is proof that determination and hard work are the key to success, and that is why she kept auditioning.

“Well I actually have some friends that decided not to come back and stuff like that but I always knew for some reason that it would happen if I kept going. I even said at some point said you know, American Idol obviously doesn’t want me why would I go back? But I found myself on the website looking at the auditions again. Just being determined. I just couldn’t turn away because I knew that if I kept trying that it would happen.”

While waiting for the announcement Candice kept saying Kree’s name, and she admitted that she was so sure that Ryan Seacrest was going announce her as the winner.

“I was saying her name because I was just certain he was going to say the name so I was like “oh yeah, Kree, Kree, Kree” and she was like “no. Candice, Candice, Candace.” We are super supportive of each other and I know no matter what I’m going to be buying Kree’s album. I think the whole world will.”

‘American Idol’ Winner — Candice Glover Wins Season 12

Upon being crowned the winner, Candice said, “three years” as she tried to hold back tears, referencing how she tried out for season 9 and 11 before winning the current season.

Under confetti and a rain shower of sparklers, Candice sobbed her way through her new single “I Am Beautiful,” and it was amazing! Candice totally deserved to win.

What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Are you glad Candice won American Idol?

WATCH: American Idol Finale: Candice Wins As Mariah Carey Disses JLO

— Eleanore Hutch
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@elehutch

More On Candice Glover, ‘American Idol’ Winner:

1. Candice Glover ‘American Idol’ Winner — Candice Should Win
2. American Idol Winner — Why Candice Glover Should Win Season 12
3. Candice Glover: Front-Runner For ‘American Idol’ Winner

Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez, who are rumored to be rivals, both performed on the May 16 season finale of American Idol. J.Lo was given the prime spot of performing her new song “Live It Up” before the coronation of the season 12 champ, but Mariah didn’t appears to be enthused. While Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban jumped to their feet at the end of the song, Mariah continued sitting and instead, playfully toyed with a streamer. Do you think it was intentional?

Mariah Carey Disses Jennifer Lopez

Even though Mariah was given the opportunity to sing a medley of her own hits at the top of the finale, she seemed unamused by the positive response J.Lo received.

The present and former judges do have a complicated history. It seems Mariah never got over the fact that her Sony Music Head ex-husband Tommy Mottola gave Jennifer material she’d wanted for her Glitter soundtrack after she left his label. In a way, Jennifer was picked by Tommy to be the next Mariah after their divorce.

UPDATE: An eyewitness tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively, “During the entire performance, Mariah was dancing in her chair and loving every single minute of it. When the confetti dropped, Mariah took some of it and waved it around in celebration of how well J.Lo did. She eventually stood up, but cameras might have not caught it, and her dresses don’t allow her to get up that often. But overall, Mariah couldn’t have been happier with the performance. Whatever was caught on TV must have been misconstrued — the entire look and feel of things — but she was a huge fan of the performance. There is no feud.”

Jennifer Lopez Performs ‘Live It Up’

While Pitbull joined Jennifer on stage and rapped, she gave a dance-heavy performance while sporting a skimpy white dress with knee-high boats. J.Lo’s backup dancers performed cool acrobatics on swings lining the stage. J.Lo perfectly balanced seductive dance moves with singing the lyrics to the song, giving an overall great performance!

What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Did Mariah diss Jennifer Lopez?

WATCH: American Idol Finale: Mariah Carey Disses JLO

— Chris Rogers
Follow
@ChrisRogers86

More Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, & ‘American Idol’ News:

1. ‘American Idol’: [SPOILER] Is The Season 12 Winner
2. Candice Glover Should Win ‘American Idol’
3. Nicki Minaj & Mariah Carey’s American Idol Fight — Saga Continues

Kree Harrison and Candice Glover battled it out to the very end and now, one girl’s life is about to change dramatically! After a long season of American Idol, the winner is….

‘American Idol’ Winner — Candice Glover Wins Season 12

CANDICE GLOVER! At the end of the night, Candice took the title from season 11 champ Phillip Phillips! However, it was a night full of treats before the winner was announced.

The Season 12 Finale: A Night Full Of Performances

On the May 16 finale, you could cut the tension with a knife! But the nerves were broken up by some amazing performances by Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Adam Lambert, The Band Perry, PSY and Keith Urban.

Jenelle Arthur started the night of performances with a fun song, “Done,” with The Band Perry.

After a performance by the Top 10 boys with Frankie Valli, Mariah Carey sang a medley of her own hits, including her newest single “Beautiful.” She brought down the house! I only wish it was sung live.

Amber Holcomb, who was arguably eliminated prematurely, then sang “Next To Me” with Emeli Sande.

Ryan Seacrest happily took a break from the performances to show Kree and Candice award their mentors with a Ford Fiesta! Later, Candice and Kree got a Ford Escape.

Next, it was back to the performances. Treating us to what Ryan calls “his global anthem,” PSY performed “Gentleman.”

Keith, looking very cute, sang “Little Bit Of Everything.” It was the television premiere of his new track.

The amazing Jennifer Hudson returned to perform “Inseparable” with Candice. Honestly, they should have shut down the competition at this point and just handed Candice the crown. Their performance was show-stopping.

The girl who should have won the title this season, Angie Miller, sang “Titanium” with former Idol finalist Adam Lambert. Then, Angie immediately went into a duet with her own idol Jessie J! Because Angie forfeited singing her own song, “You Set Me Free,” in order to perform with the UK singer, Jessie J offered to bring Angie with her to the UK to perform her original song on stage together at a future concert.

Kree “kicked off her shoes” and sang Keith’s “Where The Blacktop Ends” with Mr. Urban, Randy Jackson played on guitar and Travis Barker played on the drums. It was a feel good performance.

Since Aretha Franklin is afraid to fly, she performed with the Top 10 girls via satellite. It was almost as good as the hologram of Tupac. When the song stopped, she immediately disappeared. She must be too much of a diva for an applause. (Mariah, take note.)

Jennifer Lopez closed the set of performances with her new single “Live It Up” featuring Pitbull. It was definitely the best performance of the night!

Kree Harrison & Candice Glover’s Finale Performances: A Fight To The Finish

On the May 15 show, each girl sang three songs each. Both sounded amazing with Randy commenting that both girls sang a “winning performance.”

Upon being crowned the winner, Candice said, “three years” as she tried to hold back tears, referencing how she tried out for season 9 and 11 before winning the current season.

Under confetti and a rain shower of sparklers, Candice sobbed her way through her new single “I Am Beautiful.”

What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Did the right person win?

— Chris Rogers
Follow
@ChrisRogers86

More On Candice Glover, ‘American Idol’ Winner:

1. Candice Glover ‘American Idol’ Winner — Candice Should Win
2. American Idol Winner — Candice Glover Should Win Season 12
3. Candice Glover: Front-Runner For ‘American Idol’ Winner — She Deserves To Win Season 12

Now that Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj aren’t returning to the next season of American Idol, everyone is curious about the fate of the remaining judges. If it’s up to Keith Urban, he’ll be returning! On May 15, HollywoodLife.com caught up with Keith backstage at American Idol, and he told us his feelings about staying on as a judge next season!

Keith Urban Returning To ‘American Idol’?

When Keith was asked if he wanted to return next season, he responded, “I would, yeah.” He added, ”I literally enjoy coming to work every day and that’s a rarity.”

There’s no word yet whether or not Keith or Mariah Carey will be returning next season. Do you think Keith should return as a judge?

Randy Jackson & Nicki Minaj Leaving ‘American Idol’

On May 9, Randy revealed that he is leaving American Idol after 12 seasons on the show. Randy told E! News:

Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on American Idol I have decided it is time to leave after this season. I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry. It’s been a life changing opportunity but I am looking forward to focusing on my company Dream Merchant 21 and other business ventures.

On May 16, a source told Us Weekly that it would also be Nicki’s last season. “It’s safe to say she isn’t coming back to Idol,” the source revealed. ”She’s OK with it. She had a great time, but was only going to do one season anyway.”

HollywoodLifers, do YOU want Keith to return as a judge? Vote below!

WATCH: Candice Glover Performs “Somewhere” – AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 12

– Reporting by Russ Weakland, Written by Jenny Pickard

More Keith Urban & ‘American Idol’ News:

1. ‘American Idol’ Judges Fired? — Keith Urban & The Gang May Be Out
2. ‘American Idol’ Chooses Keith Urban & Nicki Minaj As Judges — Source
3. Keith Urban: A Girl Will ‘Absolutely’ Win ‘American Idol’ This Season

Now that Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj are out, American Idol is looking for some fresh faces in music to join the judges panel. HollywoodLife.com caught up with Carly Rae Jepsen, 27, backstage at American Idol on May 15, and she told us she knows someone who would be a great addition to the show: Justin Bieber!

Justin Bieber: ‘American Idol’ Judge?

“I think [Justin] would be great!” Carly gushed. “I’m sure he’d be awesome. He’s got lots of great opinions when it comes to the music world, and he’s very experienced, especially for someone so young.”

Justin was such a great mentor for Carly Rae — we’d love to see him up on the Idol stage as a judge!

Although Carly Rae thinks Justin would make a great judge, she doesn’t think she has quite what it takes to fill the judges’ shoes.

“I think I would be terrible,” Carly Rae told us. “For me, I think I would be too motherly and I would be like, ‘You should all go through! You did a great job! Let’s be friends…’”

Randy Jackson & Nicki Minaj Leaving ‘American Idol’

On May 9, after 12 seasons on the show, Randy announced that he is leaving American Idol. Randy told E! News:

Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on American Idol I have decided it is time to leave after this season. I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry. It’s been a life changing opportunity but I am looking forward to focusing on my company Dream Merchant 21 and other business ventures.

A week later, a source told Us Weekly that Nicki would also be leaving the show. “It’s safe to say she isn’t coming back to Idol,” the source revealed. “She’s OK with it. She had a great time, but was only going to do one season anyway.”

Carly Rae Jepsen Performs New Song On American Idol

People across the country have spoken and their picks came to life in “Perfect Harmony” on the big stage as weekly input from American Idol fans helped complete chart-topping singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen’s new song, “Take A Picture,” through the Coca-Cola Perfect Harmony Program.

During the season, fans helped create the song by selecting their favorite lyrics from a pool of options. People also were given the opportunity to weigh in on aspects like set design, backup dancers’ wardrobe and stage effects for Jepsen’s American Idol finale performance. You all saw it, was it exactly what you wanted?

If you loved it like us, download the song for free until May 17 here: http://www.americanidol.com/perfectharmony

HollywoodLifers, do YOU think Justin should be an American Idol judge? Vote below!

LISTEN: Justin Bieber To Sing To Selena Gomez At Billboard Awards 

– Reporting by Russ Weakland, Written by Jenny Pickard

More Justin Bieber & ‘American Idol’ News:

1. Justin Bieber: American Idol Judge? — AI Is Recruiting JB
2. ‘American Idol’ Replacing All 4 Judges Next Season — Report
3. ‘American Idol’ Finalists Want Harry Connick Jr. To Become A Judge

Candice Glover received a standing ovation after each one of her three American Idol performances on May 15. She’s the clear frontrunner going into the May 16 season finale.

Candice Glover: Why She Should Win ‘American Idol’

It’s been six long years since a woman won the title of “American Idol.” It’s refreshing to have two women in the finale, let alone five in the top five. However, I must admit, I originally went into the May 15 finale with a chip on my shoulder. I still believe that Angie Miller should have won (rewatch her Hollywood Week performance), but I’ll forgive America for that mistake. Halfway through the night, after hearing the contestants’ potential singles, I accepted that Angie is gone and realized that Candice can be a marketable pop star — it took me a while to believe that. But she’s now my choice to take home the title!

Kree Harrison’s potential single, “All Cried Out,” was certainly something we all could relate to after her hometown visit and Angie’s heartbreaking departure last week, but it sounded too much like another sad country lament. I’m sorry, but the girl lacks personality and she uses her backstory (unintentionally) and sad lyrics to mask the fact. She also looked a bit bored on stage. Does she want to win?

Candice then performed what would be her single, “I Am Beautiful” (watch it below). It was a song that could easily be on the radio. It was strong, powerful and extremely marketable. All four judges stood on their feet for Candice.

Candice Glover Wins The Night

Then, Randy Jackson, who is leaving after the end of season 12, said that Candice “shot the whole night to another level” with her finale performance of “I Who Have Nothing” and that it was a winning performance.  It was clear that Candice won the night overall.

While I do believe Candice will take home the crown tonight, there is a slight chance that the notoriously strong country voting base will cause an upset and award Kree the title.

What do YOU think, HollywoodLifers? Who should win American Idol season 12?

WATCH: Candice Glover Performs “I Am Beautiful” – AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 12

— Chris Rogers
Follow
@ChrisRogers86

More Candice Glover News:

1. Candice Glover Wins American Idol Season 12
2. American Idol Winner — Candice Glover Should Win Season 12
3. Candice Glover: Front-Runner For ‘American Idol’ Winner — She Deserves To Win Season 12