Days after the American Idol finale, there’s one question still lingers. (No - not whether Adam Lambert should do ballards or Broadway.) What really happened to Scott MacIntyre’s performance?

The answer to that mystery depends on who you believe: MacIntyre or Billy Joel’s camp.

According to a post on Scott’s MySpace page, his featured performance was cut due to an absent celebrity. The finalist had apparently been scheduled to play the piano opposite Matt Giraud in a “Tell Her About It” face-off. Unfortunately, a last-minute cancellation by Joel meant pulling the number altogether.

“Because our duet was the only duet not involving another celebrity, it was the first thing to be cut when the show was condensed. Over the last few days I have tried to reason this out every way possible, and it makes no sense to me why one of the most compelling and unique performances of the show would be cut simply because the original artist wasn’t present. (Perhaps Tatiana and Bikini Girl were more important after all… 😛)”  MacIntyre wrote.

But here’s the twist: Joel supposedly didn’t cancel a thing. Billy “was never invited on American Idol to perform with Scott. He did not pull out. He’s currently on tour,” his rep claims.

So are the Idol producers now to blame?

Whatever the reason - MacIntyre has been told he will get a second chance. “American Idol’s Ken Warwick promised me several times that he would make it up to me by having me back to perform next season. I know it’s not always easy to hold a top Hollywood TV executive to his word, but Ken is the most talented and warm-hearted producer I’ve ever worked with, and I’d really like to believe he will come through on that promise… I would love to perform an original song on the show from my upcoming Fall CD. Time will tell,” Scott stated.