Paula Abdul, Ju'Not Joyner Spotlight Ugly Side of 'American Idol'

Former "American Idol" contestant Ju'Not Joyner, left, former judge Paula Abdul, center, and former contestant Ayla Brown are speaking out about what they say is the negative side of the show.

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But it's not just the favoritism that got to Joyner. He resents "Idol" for making the top 36 contestants rush to sign legal documents, including non-disclosure and compensation forms, and penalizing those who asked questions -- himself included.

"There wasn't even an opportunity for me to review what I signed," Joyner said. "The day we saw the contract, we had to sign the contract. We had to collectively vote on a lawyer out of a selection of three attorneys they presented us -- it was ridiculous."

When Joyner tried to negotiate for more money and asked if his own lawyer could review the contracts, the show's executive producer, Ken Warwick, shot him down.

"He pulled me in his office and said, 'You're not going to ruin my show.' He wouldn't let me say anything. I felt like a child," Joyner said.

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Representatives for "American Idol" declined to comment for this story. But Joyner's far from the first contestant to express grievances about "Idol" that go beyond classification as sour grapes. Season two runner-up Clay Aiken and season seven finalist David Hernandez both criticized "Idol's" structure and judging process long after they left its stage.

Season five contestant Ayla Brown told ABCNews.com that behind-the-scenes judgment can sometimes influence a singer's fate more than on-air evaluations or audience votes.

"The way they portrayed me on the show was that I'm the daughter of a state senator and a news reporter and I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I came off as this stuck up northeastern b***h," Brown said.

That changed when executive producers Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe actually listened to Brown sing.

"A few weeks in, when I was rehearsing, Ken and Nigel came in and said, 'You know, we knew you were pretty but we really didn't know you could sing this well,'" Brown said. "It made me think that I was on the show, and some people are put on the show, just to get ratings."