Paula Abdul makes 'Idol' blunder

Paula Abdul made an on-air blunder on last night's American Idol, giving contestant Jason Castro feedback on two songs when he had only performed once.

The US reality show changed its regular format, giving judges the chance to give feedback to contestants after one song before they performed a second.

When Abdul was asked to address Castro's first performance, she shuffled through her notes and said: "Jason, first song, I loved hearing your lower register, which we never really hear, um... the second song, I felt like your usual charm wasn't - it was missing for me. It kind of left me a little empty.

"The two songs made me feel like you're not fighting hard enough to get into the top four."

When Randy Jackson told her Castro had only performed one song, Abdul said: "Oh my god, I thought you sang twice!"

At the end of the programme, Simon Cowell remarked that it "was officially the strangest show we've ever done".