The duo was originally set to perform Tina Turner’s rendition, but King requested at the last minute that the tempo be slowed to match the Creedence Clearwater Revival version.
While some were plainly upset by the way Elle King laid out the situation, others were blaming the error on Elle King for having changed the version of “Proud Mary” that they brought to American Idol audiences.
Shawn Robinson was notably uncomfortable with the change happening so close to the actual performance, but he went along with it anyway.