Beatrice Miller told The Hollywood Reporter that she disliked almost every aspect of her performance on Diva Night — from the song selection to her costume. She also said the producers, not her mentor Britney Spears, assigned the song. According to the interview, Britney’s reaction to Beatrice’s displeasure was minimal.
The song at the center of the controversy was Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.” The New Jersey teen explained backstage that while she enjoys listening to the 80s classic, performing it live didn’t feel natural to her. “I didn’t like it when I performed it, but I mean, I hope that didn’t show,” she said.
Miller said producers handed out the assignments and that she had been told the theme only minutes before meeting the show’s vocal coaches. “Britney knew that I hated my song this week, but you know, she just said, ‘Get through it and just try to connect with the song,’” Beatrice recalled. “I don’t think it really mattered to her that I didn’t like it.”
She also described the backstage atmosphere during Diva Night as subdued. Many contestants reportedly felt disconnected from the material assigned to them.
“I think the majority of us as contestants didn’t like what we were singing this week,” she said. “I don’t think any of us got exactly what we wanted because this week it was all about saluting divas of the older time… they kind of made us into the people that we’re singing this week, which was kind of weird. I don’t like that, because it just turns us into people that we’re not.”
Beatrice was also vocal about her dislike of the outfit she was given to wear on stage.
She joked that she tried to negotiate her look with the styling team. “I was like, ‘I hate this dress and if you don’t take me out of it and put me in some pants, then we’re going to add some funk to this outfit,’” she said. When producers suggested saving a hat for a future show, Beatrice insisted on wearing it immediately because she felt the original costume was so wrong for her.
She wasn’t the only contestant frustrated by assigned material. Several finalists told similar stories about being handed songs that didn’t match their personal style or expectations.
Other contestants who expressed disappointment included Arin Ray, who was given Madonna’s “Crazy for You,” and Jennel Garcia, who was assigned Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary.” Garcia told The Hollywood Reporter she initially reacted with disbelief when she heard the arrangement. “I hated it!,” Garcia said. She added that they adjusted the arrangement to better suit her style.
Groups like Lyric 145 also voiced frustration after being unable to perform their original song choice. “We had the best song we could have possibly had. It was our original lyrics, it was the diva of the century, it was perfect,” Lyric Da Queen said after the show. She described last-minute changes as chaotic and a blow to what might have been their strongest performance.
Beyond individual reactions, the situation highlights how little time some contestants actually spend with their celebrity mentors during theme weeks. The Hollywood Reporter learned that producers typically select songs for the contestants first, and mentors enter the process only a day or two before the live broadcast. That tight timeline can lead to last-minute swaps or creative changes, sometimes motivated by licensing issues and sometimes by differing artistic visions.
The combination of assigned material, rushed rehearsals and last-minute costume decisions left several competitors feeling unprepared and disconnected from their performances. For viewers, that may help explain why many of the night’s presentations felt muted or inconsistent: when singers are asked to inhabit personas and songs that don’t reflect their artistic identity, the result can be less engaging than when they perform material that genuinely resonates with them.
In short, Diva Night exposed tensions between producers’ thematic choices and contestants’ personal styles. Beatrice Miller’s candid reaction — from the song and staging to the wardrobe — underscores the risks of tightly curated theme weeks, especially when contestants have little input and limited rehearsal time to make those choices their own.