VIDEO: Casey Abrams Kisses J.Lo On 'American Idol'

The tension isn’t the only thing that’s heating up on American Idol: Casey Abrams, one of the frontrunners among this season’s remaining seven contestants, directly serenaded judge Jennifer Lopez with his rendition of Maroon 5’s “Harder to Breathe” on Wednesday night before going in for a kiss on the cheek at the song’s finale. If Lopez didn’t find it harder to breathe after the stolen smooch, Steven Tyler seemed to.

“You did what I’ve been trying to do for four months!” he exclaimed in his feedback to Abrams, also saying that “there are millions of people in America that are really angry because you piss ’em off because you are so f—ing good. You’ve changed so many people’s minds.”

While Lopez didn’t rely on profanity to express herself, she was also enthusiastic. “I loved it,” she said, before emphatically clarifying that she meant “the performance,” instead of this kiss. Of the kiss? “Casey’s got soft lips,” she revealed. —KIMBERLY STEELE