photo: FoxMany "American Idol" viewers were shocked when seeming frontrunner Colton Dixon went home in seventh place Thursday night, but the devout Christian rocker appeared less surprised than most. Speaking to Yahoo! Music backstage immediately after his elimination, Colton cited his controversial decision to cover Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" this week as the reason for his downfall, realizing in hindsight that it probably alienated his core fanbase.
"I strayed too much from who I am. I would not have chosen 'Bad Romance' if I had to do it over again, just because I think the meaning behind the song is not something that I necessarily connect with," Colton explained. "I don't know why I didn't catch that. I think a lot of my fans were shocked that I chose that song. Nothing against the song or Lady Gaga--she's got a thing going on that's cool--but it's just not me, who I am as an artist, and I think I let a lot people down with that...Just for me and who I am, what I stand for, it would have been smart to choose a different song."
As for whether Colton's "I don't care" backstage comment hurt his chances, Colton said, "You gotta love TV editing. I came off the stage, and if you would have heard the whole thing, I said, 'No disrespect to the judges, but I ain't singing for them--every song I do, it's for His glory.'"
Some Colton fans were dismayed that the one Judges' Save of the season was used last week on Jessica Sanchez, which meant that there was no chance for Colton to get a reprieve this week. When asked whether he thought the Judges' Save would have been used on him this week if it had still been up for grabs, Colton mused, "I would hope that they would have saved me this week, but you never know. Jessica deserved to be saved last week, hands down."
As for Colton's future, he definitely intends to pursue un-Gaga-esque Christian music, as evidenced by his Thursday exit performance, a reprise of Lifehouse's worship song "Everything." Said Colton optimistically, "I'm really excited to see what God's going to do with this." Many Dixon fans are undoubtedly excited as well.
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