'Idol' judges: We hate it when we send people home

"American Idol" added a new wrinkle to its often-harsh elimination process, debuting a sudden-death round Wednesday night in which five of the 10 female contestants were sent home.

But doing so was the part of the job the FOX show's judges liked the least.

"I hated it," judge Mariah Carey told People magazine. "There were some special people we had to get rid of."

Fellow judge Nicki Minaj, who has had a beef with Carey since they joined the show, agreed, telling People: "I don't want to hurt people's feelings, but I guess that's what we're required to do."