--- 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: 2026-10-12T09:02:46.861Z 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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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=166bb66e-ff82-4806-ad5d-44bd5a34bc13&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inspirational ‘American Idol’ Contestant Wows Judges & Brings Katy Perry to Tears [Watch (HLS stream): Inspirational ‘American Idol’ Contestant Wows Judges & Brings Katy Perry to Tears](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IuevcvsX.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2018-03-14. Watch more “American Idol” auditions this coming Sunday on ABC at 8/7c_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 14, 2018 6:41 PM UTC  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. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Stop, stop. [ MUSIC ] Whoo. My goodness. Yep. The tears are a flowing for night two of ABC's America Idol. That contestant David Francisco revealed to the judges that he moved to Nashville in 2016 to pursue his musci dreams. Just weeks after though he was hit by a car while on his bike. It left paralyzed from the waist down. Yeah while months after the accident he started to see movment in his Feed and has made incredible improvement. You're saying Steven Wonder's Isnt She Lovely, you heard it there. That was Alal's fiance was watching on. yeah. His fiancee is an old friend who reached out to him after he heard about his accident. So he said that she was never phased, that he was in a wheelchair. Just wasnt a thing for her. Yeah. And once he started singing, Katty Perry couldnt control her emotions and neither could we. This Skip about sums it all up there. Yeah, Perry said that she spent most of that performance watching how in love his fiancee is with him. It's just very sweet moment on the show. Very adorable. Fransisco obviously scored his golden ticket to Hollywood. Which we're all very happy for. Yeah, when it comes to American Idol, you gotta take the good, with the not so good though. [ LAUGH ] So watch this. [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] And I need you more than ever. Thank you Autumn. Alright, well I'm going to let Luke start. Autumn, I'm not feeling it Sugarplum. [ LAUGH ] Luke putting it like only Luke can. I feel like Sugarplum is like a dig. [ LAUGH ] It's really a dig. So a dig. Sadly though Autumn was. Did not impress the judges with her take on Total Eclipse Of The Heart, you could tell. Yeah, she did not make it to Hollywood but she was entertaining. ```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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