Apr 22, 2011 09:44 GMT  ·  By
Casey Abrams performs Maroon 5 track on AI, steals a peck on the cheek from Jennifer Lopez
   Casey Abrams performs Maroon 5 track on AI, steals a peck on the cheek from Jennifer Lopez

The other night, Casey Abrams, one of the finalists now on American Idol, managed to put on his best performance so far, while also doing what men in America and all over the world have probably been dreaming for years: he kissed Jennifer Lopez.

As the video below with confirm, Casey sang Maroon 5’s “Harder to Breathe,” a track that he simply took and made it his own, which the judges also noted.

Towards the end of the song, as if to illustrate that, indeed, it IS getting harder to breathe, he went up to the judges’ table, leaned in towards Lopez and, as she turned her face to the side, planted a smooch on her cheek.

The audience and the judges alike were somewhat surprised by Casey’s gesture but, luckily for him, in a pleasant way, as their cheering and wild applause showed.

Lopez too was pleasantly taken aback – but not too shocked to note that, indeed, Casey was growing as an artist and that he’d just put on an amazing performance.

“Now Casey’s not playing fair. Casey got soft lips,” Lopez said, before adding that she loved the performance, as riddled with “Casey-isms” as it was, which is what made it so special.

Steven Tyler interrupted her to tell Casey that, with the kiss, he’d taken the initiative, ahead of everybody else, himself included.

“He did what I been trying to do for four months!” Tyler said.

Jennifer resumed her criticism of the performance, which was entirely positive.

“I loved it...” she said. “The performance, the performance, the performance!” she added, thinking people might understand she was talking about the smooch.

When Tyler’s turn to speak came, he dropped a rather unexpected F-bomb, telling Casey he was already an “icon” and a “hero,” and that his performance had been “[expletive]-ing good.”

For Steven’s comments, check out the second video below.