ET explores the controversy surrounding David Hernandez.

"American Idol" contestant DAVID HERNANDEZ has found himself in the headlines — not for his singing, but for his stripper past.

David belted out the JIM STEINMAN power ballad "It’s All Coming Back to Me Now" last night, just hours after the story broke that he used to dance at Dick’s Cabaret, a gay strip club in Phoenix, AZ.

Co-owner PAUL MORRIS tells us that David worked there for about three years, up until last September. He says he first met David when "we hired him off an amateur night, and he just walked in and it was a no-brainer to hire him."