American Idol contestant tearfully apologizes to Katy Perry after rough duet round

During Sunday's episode of American Idol, contestant Nutsa Buzaladze tearfully apologized to the judges, in particular Katy Perry, for a rough duet week last week, which culminated in her duet partner accusing her of sleeping through a rehearsal.

"I wanted to tell my side of the story and I felt so bad I was frozen. I didn't want to bring negative energy so that's why I didn't say nothing," Buzaladze said on Sunday to Perry and fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. "I didn't speak up because I didn't want to cry on stage. But after I left the stage I was just destroyed. So I wanted to apologize for that."

Visibly upset, she added that she felt "very bad" about what happened. Perry, who had previously told the contestant last week to "not forget about grace...more grace" got up to hug Buzaladze.

"That's so wonderful, and Nutsa, what I meant about grace is that it's OK to be determined and ambitious and edgy and strong but also with grace," Perry told the contestant. "I really relate to you because I know what it means to be a strong woman, to want to be strong and to never break and to never feel like anything can ever get to me, but that's not real. I think that they're seeing that you're a real person with a big heart and a big talent."

Last week, Buzaladze's partner, Carina DeAngelo, called her out onstage, telling the judges that the two "had a couple of issues last night" because "some people wanted to sleep instead of working."

A behind the scenes clip showed DeAngelo being upset that Buzaladze seemingly slept through a rehearsal. However, after DeAngelo called her, Buzaladze did in fact show up. In a post on her Instagram Monday, the singer explained her absence. "I want y'all to know that I took a 17-hour flight to get to LA, just 1.5 days before the shooting," she wrote. "As scheduled, every day our shooting started at 7 am and lasted till 3-4 am sometimes. After the official rehearsals I did not know that we had additional vocal rehearsals, probably I missed this information , my bad. However, once Carina called me, I prepared myself and came back, as soon as I could, to rehearse even more."

In her opening interview on Sunday, Buzaladze said of the whole ordeal, "Duet round was the hardest emotional experience I've had in my life, ever." She added, "It was really hurtful for me. it really hurt me. I never do bad to people. I have never been this person."

It all worked out in the end, though, with Buzaladze making it into the top 24. Find out who else rounds out the top 24 during Monday night's episode at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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