"Duet" went live for the first time last night, and as it is with every reality singing competition, the introduction of America's vote kicks the contestants' emotions up a notch. Luckily for the remaining singers on ABC's hit, they have a calming force on stage with them in the form of host Quddus.

Having worked in music and alongside musicians for so long, the former MTV on-air star is particularly sensitive to the feelings of the competitors. Asked by MTV News if he had any embarrassing red carpet stories, Quddus told us that while he's never done anything too crazy on the red carpet, he has let his strong opinion on how reality show hosts treat contestants get the better of him.

"I just went in. I was like, you what, let me talk about a couple of these other hosts. I straight up called out Steve Jones on 'X Factor,'" Quddus told us when he stopped by the MTV Newsroom (his old stomping grounds). "I'm sorry, but I saw the dude not handling a contestant with any kind of compassion and there's just no excuse for that."

But when we reminded him that Jones was no longer with "The X Factor," that's when he really let his feelings be known.

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"He's not there anymore! Steve Jones, you lost your job for a reason, boy," he exclaimed. "I'm sorry, but in the space that I deal with, you've got to have heart, you've got to care about the people that are putting their dreams on the line for your entertainment. Are you kidding me? You can't have a little sensitivity for a couple of minutes for this person? Steve looked like he was too cool for school, man. I was like, nah, nah, never that. So that's definitely a big difference between our show and the other show is that I care a lot about these people."

Strong words, but he says that working in music A&R before he broke out as a host on MTV taught him how personally the contestants take the words of the hosts and judges on shows like "Duets," The Voice" and "The X Factor." "I know their struggle because I was in A&R at a record label for years, and so I know that this is not a joke, this is not simple entertainment for these people," he continued. "This is their dream that they've built up years for."

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Ann Curry officially announced her departure from the "Today" show this morning in a tearful segment just before the 9 o'clock hour. With co-anchor Matt Lauer, weatherman Al Roker and news reader Natalie Morales by her side, she choked up as she confirmed the news, saying she will stay with the NBC family as an anchor at large and national/international correspondent, "which essentially mean I get tickets to every big story we want to cover with a terrific team of my choosing."

Curry was more real during her announcement segment than she's been in the entirety of her tenure as co-host of "Today." "For all of you who saw me as groundbreaker, I'm sorry I couldn't carry the ball over the finish line. Man, I did try," she emotionally explained. "So to all of you who watched thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me touch yours."

After that, Lauer, Roker and Morales offered up remembrances of her tenure with the show and bid her adieu. When they returned from commercial, she was gone.

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Her exit stands in stark contrast to the one given Meredith Vieira barely more than a year ago. Vieira's exit was celebrated with a show-long farewell complete with lavish clip-show tributes, a rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'" (seriously), Carol King (one of Vieira's favorites) performance and a flood of tears from her fellow anchors and crew. Of course, the circumstances of Vieira's departure were very different: she left of her own accord and was universally adored by fans of "Today" as well as the show's team. Curry leaves amid turmoil that she wasn't connecting with audiences and rumors of backstage drama.

Ultimately, we've long been of the opinion that while Curry is a fantastic hard-news journalist, she was never really a good at covering the fluffier stuff and is perhaps too serious a person for the morning show format itself. Clearly, she was quite good at her job as full-time news anchor of "Today" – a position she held for more than 14 years – and has long been one of the strongest stand-in anchors on "Dateline NBC" and the "NBC Nightly News." Co-hosting opposite the malleable Lauer just wasn’t a good fit; she's better suited to other things.

>> Ann Curry Tearfully Announces 'Today' Show Departure

But watching her brief and sincere farewell and subsequent disappearance from the screen, we were saddened that she wasn't given a more proper goodbye. While her year as co-host was rocky, she has been with the show and, in some capacity, with NBC News for nearly two decades.

She deserved better. Perhaps not an entire show, like Vieira got, and certainly not a false, happy-go-lucky farewell celebration, but an extra segment or two celebrating her years-long contribution to the show. Maybe some clips of the wonderful news reporting and serious interviews she contributed. While she lacked the lightness to host, Curry brought a great deal of depth to "Today," and that's no small thing – the show needs both to succeed the way it long has.

>> Newsroom Sound Off: Is Bumping Ann Curry From The 'Today' Anchor Spot The Right Choice?

This is clearly an emotional time for Curry. It would have been nice for her many fans (and for the woman herself) to see that while things didn't work out in the long-run, she was a valued member of the "Today" family and that her years in Rockefeller Center were as appreciated as they deserved to be.

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