Reinhart: getting booted off 'Idol' will boost career

The latest contestant to be voted off "American Idol," Haley Reinhart, does not harbor any hard feelings toward the show's judges, the New York Post reported Saturday.

"They really just wanted to push my buttons, push me as far as I could possibly go to get whatever they wanted to get out of me," the 20 year old said after she was ousted from the FOX show Thursday night.

"Idol" fans complained that the judges, particularly Randy Jackson, criticized Reinhart more than newly-crowned finalists Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina.

But Reinhart said she understood why the judges did it.

"Most of the time it was fire that they wanted, so that I'd get all aggravated and try and take it out on the stage," she said.

After finding out that she was going home, Reinhart said she "accepted it very quickly."

She "took it with a grain of salt" and said, "You know, hey, everything happens for a reason, and this is a good thing ... it only means that I'm going to start my career as a solo artist even sooner."

The "American Idol" finale will be held next week.

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Read more: New York Post