"American Idol's" resident rocker to make the live audience cry on Wednesday

Leave it to "American Idol's" resident rocker to make the live audience cry on Wednesday, May 4's Top 5 performance show.

Zap2it was on the scene at the taping and saw more than James Durbin become emotional after his performance of "Without You."

Before getting on stage to perform, Durbin went and hugged his four family members who were sitting in the audience. Durbin's vibe was pretty serious and somber, completely different from his usual excited, showman self.

After Durbin's performance, during which he broke down crying thinking about his family back home, we were kind of embarrassed because we were getting a little misty-eyed. Imagine our surprise when we looked around our section and saw a lot of the audience dabbing their eyes -- especially mothers who were at the taping with their children.

After the show cut to commercial break, Durbin was still pretty emotional while leaving the stage. Ryan Seacrest quickly went to him, gave him a hug and a pep talk. Three cheers for the host that cares the most! Yes, we know we're lame.

P.S. We don't know if you noticed, but Durbin actually performed "Without You" barefoot. He's never done that before and we just felt like you should know. And now you do. Moving on...

Other "Idol" behind-the-scenes tidbits:

-- Celebrities in attendance included Sir Anthony Hopkins, Kelly Preston, "Parenthood's" Dax Shepard and "Breaking In's" Michael Rosenbaum. Shepard and Rosenbaum were completely in to the show and seemed to like Durbin the most.

-- During Durbin's second performance, Rosenbaum stood up and told everyone in his section to stand up, yelling "Come on!" "Smallville's" Lex Luthor is on your side, Durbin. You can't lose now.

-- Nancy Cartwright -- she who voices Bart Simpson -- was also in attendance and entertained the crowd during a commercial break by breaking out her money-maker... Bart's voice, obviously.

-- The two contestants who seemed the most nervous before the show? Lauren Alaina and Durbin. The contestants who seem the most at ease? Haley Reinhart and Scotty McCreery. The contestant who interacted with the fans the most was Reinhart, who was high-fiving everyone and just having a good time with the audience.

-- When Alaina walked out in her blue and white gown for her second performance, the audience literally gasped, oohed and aahed. She looked that stunning.

-- Cute contestant moment alert! When Jacob Lusk was leaving the stage after his first performance, Lauren was coming on and gave him a big hug. Aw!

-- Speaking of hugs, while a recap of the night's performances was playing, the five contestants on stage had themselves one big ol' hug-a-thon -- especially Alaina and Reinhart, who seemed pretty close.






Scotty McCreery 1st song ~ American Idol Top5

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