Simon Cowell, executive producer of The X Factor and co-owner of Syco Music, has confirmed that finalists Josh Krajcik, Chris Rene and Astro will each get a record deal with Sony Music.
Krajcik, 30, was the runner-up of the first season of The X Factor USA. Rene, 28, came in third place and Astro, 15, came in seventh place.
The X Factor USA eliminated Astro on December 1, 2011. Astro handled his ouster with poise and said he loved his time on the show. He also thanked his fans, the AstroNauts!
The X Factor USA aired its top 7 live show November 29, 2011. Paula Abdul still has no contestants left in the competition. Nicole Scherzinger has just one. L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell still have all three of their contestants.
Below is the live blogging of the show and the songs each contestant performed and their voting telephone numbers.
Josh Krajcik – “Dirty Diana” – 1 855 843 9301 or Text VOTE to 9301
CLICK HERE TO WATCH JOSH PERFORM ‘DIRTY DIANA’ AN D READ JUDGES’ COMMENTS
Astro – “Black or White” – 1 855 843 9302 or Text VOTE to 9302
Drew – “Billy Jean” – 1 855 843 9303 or Text VOTE to 9303
Rachel Crow “Can You Feel It” – 1 855 843 9304 or Text VOTE to 9304
Marcus Canty “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” – 1 855 843 9305 or Text VOTE to 9305
Chris Rene “I’ll Be There” – 1 855 843 9306 or Text VOTE to 9306
Melanie Amaro “Earth Song” – 1 855 843 9307 or Text VOTE to 9307
CLICK HERE TO WATCH MELANIE’S PERFORMANCE OF EARTH SONG
On tonight’s (Nov. 22) ‘thanks giving’ episode of X Factor, teen rapper Astro explained his temper tantrum of last week and promised his fans not to let them down again. The 15 year old rapper from Brooklyn explained in a pre-packaged video that he “didn’t know how to control my emotions” last week when he found himself in the bottom two and he “could have handled it better.”
After he finished performing, he said, “To Team Astro and all the AstroNauts across the world, but mostly hip-hop, I’ll never let you down again.”
Simon Cowell said, “The music business needs unpredictability. As long as you keep a good head on your shoulders and always do your very best, you’ll be fine.”
On last Thursday’s The X Factor results show, Astro threw a temper tantrum when he found himself in the bottom two and at first refused to sing for survival.
“What I do, I do for the love of Hip-Hop and my fans, and I would never doing anything to hurt either….I believed I was being mistreated… My guards are always up, and maybe I took the situation too heavy. I seriously apologize to my fans, what I said and my emotions weren’t directed toward you. I’m 15 and I think I know everything, but the truth is, I don’t, and I handled the situation wrong! Win or lose next week, I will make you all proud!”
On Thursday night’s The X Factor, Astro was in the bottom two along with Stacy Francis and this obviously-disappointing result got the worst of the 15-year old rapper.
When the judges were to vote on who should stay or go between Astro and Francis, judge Simon Cowell asked Astro why he threw a temper tantrum and Astro explained, “If you want to put me in the bottom two, I don’t want to perform for people who don’t want me here.” Despite this bad attitude, somehow, Astro’s talent saved him from extinction and Stacy was sent home instead.
L.A. showed support for his student, telling the audience, “He’s dealing with being in the bottom 2 in his own way. There’s a pain, we don’t know the pain that he may be going through.” Reid continued, “When you enter a competition, you have to be prepared for the results. And if the results don’t land in your favor, good sportsman-like conduct is still required. I was disappointed in the attitude.”
Stacy Francis said after the show about her ouster, “The thing to be disappointed about is when you see someone like Astro have such an obnoxious attitude about it is that he gets to stay.”
“Astro’s 14 [he’s actually 15] and you can call him a teenager and give him an excuse, but bad behavior is bad behavior. He was ungracious in that moment, and in the real scheme of things, no matter what you have to be grateful,” Francis continued.
Astro later thanked his fans via Twitter and tried to explain his antics. “Politics!! don’t be fooled by what you don’t know!” Astro Tweeted. “Thank you AstroNauts for holding me down! Its funny how people are quick to judge not knowing whats going on behind the scenes. Maybe I should have given my Disney smile instead!”
Astro added, “I feel yall on that but I wasn’t talking about viewers when I said I don’t wanna perform. If you only knew what I know you’d say otherwise.”
Feeling a bit more calm this morning, Astro took to Twitter again. “I had a ‘fight the system’ moment last night. Sorry if i disappointed you guys. I WILL make you all proud next week!”