 The song has received generally positive reviews . Allison Stewart of The Washington Post called the song " great and <unk> " , saying that it sounded like " Bryan Adams teaming with Heart in 1984 for a contribution to some alternate universe <unk> soundtrack . " Blake <unk> of Engine 145 gave the song a <unk> @-@ up , calling the song as " a dramatic affair that demonstrates how pop and country can intersect with each other and offer decent results . " He concluded his review by writing , " " Don 't You Wanna Stay " would be a suitable fit for a <unk> or <unk> album , and , though nowhere near a classic , it ’ s an instant entrant into the " guilty pleasure " category . " Reviewing the album for Billboard , Gary <unk> described the song as being part of an " array of such <unk> , emotionally ambivalent goodbye songs " . Bobby <unk> of <unk> gave the song three @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half stars out of five and praised both Aldean and Clarkson 's fine voice , " making for an interesting combination : Jason 's rough , slightly nasal voice against Kelly 's cleaner , forceful tone . " In a different perspective , Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe graded the production of the song as " C " , <unk> the song for its musical element , writing " the sheer volume of noise that invades the track with the first chorus takes us straight into Monster <unk> territory . " He concluded his review by emphasizing that " this isn ’ t country music . It just isn ’ t . " On March 5 , 2013 Billboard ranked the song # 40 in its list of Top 100 American Idol Hits of All Time . 
