--- title: Katy Perry Gave an American Idol Contestant His First Kiss description: An American Idol contestant who got his first kiss from Katy Perry on the singing competition series has called the smooch "uncomfortable." canonical: https://time.com/5199798/katy-perry-american-idol-contestant-first-kiss/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-14T18:41:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:24.266Z og:title: Katy Perry Gave an American Idol Contestant His First Kiss og:description: He has mixed feelings about it og:url: https://time.com/5199798/katy-perry-american-idol-contestant-first-kiss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt393607b1889356d4/69892acde76ad2d3926315e2/american-idol-judges-lionel-richie-katy-perry-luke-bryan.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: katy-perry-american-idol-2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Katy Perry Gave an American Idol Contestant His First Kiss twitter:description: He has mixed feelings about it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt393607b1889356d4/69892acde76ad2d3926315e2/american-idol-judges-lionel-richie-katy-perry-luke-bryan.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Katy Perry Gave an _American Idol_ Contestant His First Kiss. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 14, 2018 6:41 PM UTC  'American Idol' judges (L-R) Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan 'American Idol' judges (L-R) Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan Eric Liebowitz/ABC via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 14, 2018 6:41 PM UTC An [_American Idol_](http://time.com/5180721/american-idol-2-0-is-kinder-and-cuddlier/)contestant who got his [first kiss](http://time.com/4895230/katy-perry-first-kiss/) from [Katy Perry](http://time.com/5194410/katy-perry-nun-dies-in-court/) while auditioning for the singing competition has called the moment “uncomfortable.” When Benjamin Glaze appeared in October before the judges of ABC’s _Idol_ reboot—Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan—the then 19-year-old Oklahoman was only expecting to perform either his self-written song “Stadium” or Nick Jonas’ “Levels.” However, after a joke about Perry’s 2008 smash hit “I Kissed a Girl” led Glaze to reveal he had never done said deed, Perry ended up unexpectedly planting one on him. “I was a tad bit uncomfortable. I wanted to save it for my first relationship,” Glaze recently told the New York [_Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/style/katy-perry-kiss-american-idol.html). “I know a lot of guys would be like, ‘Heck yeah!’ But for me, I was raised in a conservative family and I was uncomfortable immediately. I wanted my first kiss to be special.” Despite his discomfort, Glaze said there has been one upside to the whole incident. It raised awareness about his music. “So in that way,” he said, “I’m glad she did it because it’s a great opportunity to get my music out.” The kiss aired during the show’s March 11 season premiere and garnered criticism from some viewers who called Perry’s actions inappropriate. “Am I the only one who was seriously uncomfortable about the Katy Perry kiss on [#AmericanIdol](https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmericanIdol?src=hash)?” wrote one Twitter user. “It’s super weird and awkward and not asked for.” > [](https://twitter.com/cmsfamily/status/973002947981344775) Watch the clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5199798/katy-perry-american-idol-contestant-first-kiss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5199798/katy-perry-american-idol-contestant-first-kiss/"},"headline":"Katy Perry Gave an American Idol Contestant His First Kiss. 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