Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic Astro, Astro, Astro!
That's all anyone who watches The X Factor seems to be talking about since the young rapper had a meltdown of sorts during last week's results show, almost quitting the competition in the process. But something else they're talking about? Paula Abdul's chances for survival, considering she only has one group, Lakoda Rayne, left in the running.
So what did Abdul think of Astro's mini-meltdown last week? And what will happen to her if Lakoda is booted from the competition?
It was the meltdown that caused an entire viewership's jaws to drop, including Abdul's, when the 15-year-old hip-hop artist almost decided not to perform after being voted into the bottom two and then gave the judging panel major attitude. Abdul talked to E! News about the moments leading up to Astro's "save me" song that almost didn't happen.
"It was one of those things that immediately for me, I thought, something's going on in a commercial break backstage," she explains. "Right before we were coming back from commercial break, Simon [Cowell] said, 'He's not going to do a 'save me' song.' I said, 'Are you kidding me?' and I looked over to L.A. [Reid] and he was perplexed."
While Abdul admits, "He made a character mistake on television," she points out that Astro just turned 15. "That's not an excuse, but he is still a young gentleman," she says.
Aside from the Astro of it all, the other big thing to happen on Thursday's results show was Lakoda Rayne, the last remaining group, not being voted into the bottom two, a first for Abdul in the competition.
"I am most proud of Lakoda Rayne," Paula says proudly. "These girls, besides being beautiful singers and beautiful aesthetically, they are gorgeous dynamic women. I can't even imagine them not being a group...They have a bright future regardless of what happens on The X Factor. If I were a betting woman, I would bet on Lakoda Rayne."
Still, if the group is voted out, leaving her with no contestants in the competition, Abdul says she'll still have plenty to do. "Then I have plenty of time to irritate the hell of out Simon!"
The X Factor airs tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox.
To hear more from Abdul, like if she's spending Thanksgiving with her BFF Cowell, watch our exclusive video interview with her above!