Frank Micelotta / FOXJust like his American Idol favorite Chris Daughtry, Colton Dixon was—according to most of the show's fans—eliminated from the competition way too soon.
But is Colton blaming Lady Gaga for his elimination? While he's not pointing fingers at the pop singer directly, he is kicking himself for choosing to perform her hit song "Bad Romance."
We chatted with the Idol fan favorite about his decision to sing Gaga and why it was a mistake, his shocking elimination and if he thinks the judges would have used their save on him if it was still available to them. Plus, does he think Phillip Phillips stole his voters?!
"I think the biggest risk was 'Bad Romance,' and I think it was a bad risk to take because I didn't really think it through," Colton confessed to us when we asked him what the biggest risk he took was.
"I think musically, performance-wise and image, I was so happy with the way it turned out. But at the same time the message that was portrayed wasn't really who I was, and that's normally the first thing I think about," he continued. "For whatever reason, I overlooked that this week. I think that's the main reason why I'm talking to you right now, honestly."
When Colton apologized after his elimination last night, some viewers were confused by what exactly he was sorry for.
He clarified that it was for two reasons. "First of all, seeing the way I came across on camera after going backstage after 'September'—I was kind of disappointed. One, with TV editing, but yeah, I said it. That's definitely not who I am and that struck me the wrong way," he admitted.
The second reason? Song choice!
"I've taken pride in knowing who I am and really taking a stance in my faith. I think in choosing 'Bad Romance' I turned off a lot of those voters, which are my core voters," Colton told us. "I'm sorry that I got caught up in the musicality of the performance this week instead of what it should have been, which is the connection to a song that I normally bring every week."
Still, Colton is viewing his blunder as an experience that will help him later on in his career: "It's a hard lesson learned, but I needed to learn that lesson. You need to have a valley before you can peak, and what's cool about this is, I don't think I've peaked yet."
Nor do we, Colton, nor do we!
While most fans were shocked that Colton was even in the bottom three, the show's resident rocker had a feeling he was in trouble last night.
"I had a feeling I was in the bottom three, so that didn't surprise me so much, especially after I was standing next to Jessica [Sanchez] and Phillip [Phillips]. That was kind of a giveaway to me," he explains. "I was surprised just because I had never been in the bottom, but at the same time I'm OK with it... I'm glad Hollie [Cavanagh] gets to stay longer. She's going to kill it next week."
If the judges hadn't used their one save on Jessica last week, Colton would like to think they would have used it on him last night, but he's not certain they would have.
"Based on this week and just from their feedback, I don't know. It's up in the air," he said. "I'm really glad they used it on Jessica. She totally deserves it and she's going to do great things."
There's been a lot of talk in recent weeks that Colton and fellow heartthrob Phillip would soon split the young female vote, but Colton doesn't think that was the case.
"I don't think they were necessarily split. I don't think it was either "you're a Phillip fan' or 'you're a Colton fan,' " he said. "The demographic for voters are the same for a lot of us, so I hate when Jimmy [Iovine] compared us that way. Phillip is phenomenal at what he does and I'm happy he stayed. He's fantastic and I'm excited to see what he does on the show."
Do you think Colton made a mistake by singing Lady Gaga? Would you have liked to see him stay in the competition longer? Sound off in the comments!