American Idol Shocking Elimination: Colton Dixon: Singing Lady Gaga
may have cost me
The Lord's giveth, and the Lord's taketh away.
All season long, Christian American Idol viewers had supported Colton
Dixon, and Colton had openly courted their vote. It looked for all the
world like a match made in Heaven, one that might have taken the
20-year-old singer from Murfreesboro, Tenn., all the way to the
finale.
But bringing in Bad Romance apparently soured the relationship,
causing those viewers to hold back their votes Wednesday. On Thursday,
Colton was an unexpected elimination, finishing the competition in
seventh place.
"I think it was Gaga," Colton said by phone Friday morning. "Nothing
against her at all. It's a great song, and she has done well with it.
But I think I turned off a lot of my voters by doing it.
More: Where does Season 11 go after Colton's exit?
"I should have stuck with something I connected more with, just for
what I stand for and who I stand for. I think that lost me a lot of
votes.
"I should have thought of that while choosing songs. It just didn't
cross my mind. I was so concerned with doing another rock song, with
the performance and the musicality of the song, that I overlooked the
meaning."
Even though Colton changed some of the song's lyrical content and made
edits for both his live performance and his iTunes recording, that
wasn't enough for some fans.
"There weren't many on Twitter or Facebook, but I did see a few who
were concerned that I chose to do Gaga," he says. "Some religious
people hear Gaga, and they totally turn it off. I don't know why I
didn't think of that, because that's the big majority of my voters. I
should have thought of that. That was a bad move on my end. Definitely
learned a lesson."
Colton, who nearly made the Idol semi-finals in Season 10, spent his
time on Idol this year looking beyond the competition to the career he
hopes to build beyond the show. "Everyone wants to win -- that'd be an
honor," he says. But he knew the competition was tough.
"I look at everyone who's left in the competition: Some of them can
sing circles around me. Their theory and their technique is
unbelievable. I think I have a good voice, but it's not one of my
crazy strengths. I pride myself on how I can change up a song and turn
it into a Colton song. I love that the judges saw that more than not.
But that's definitely what I had fun doing and tried to do every
week."
After Idol and the summer tour, Colton plans to continue pursuing his
career in Christian music. He says a recent dinner with Chris Daughtry
helped him see the next steps he needs to take.
"He let me in on so much that we're not aware of," Colton says. "I've
got to work my tail off. I need to write till I can't move my hand any
more, and see what we come up with. I'm for sure going to be writing,
even while on the tour, to get ready for a record.
In his audition segment at the start of the season, Colton came off
like a young, bleached-blond Michael Corleone saying "Just when I
thought I was out, they pull me back in." He says he had no intentions
of trying to get back on the show when he accompanied his younger
sister, Schyler Dixon, to her audition before the judges.
"That was totally not staged," he said. "I went to support Schyler
when she got her golden ticket, and the judges weren't having it. They
told her to go get me, and she did. I tried to respectfully say no,
but they just would not have it, so I said okay.
"I'm so thankful they did it. I'm so blessed to have made it this far,
especially having not wanted to audition."
He's not sure if Schyler will make a third run at Idol. "She's been
back and forth on it," he says. "I hope she does, because she'll kill
it next year if she does. But we're going to have to wait and see."
There is an immediate silver living for Colton: His Nashville
Predators lead the Detroit Red Wings three games to one in the first
round of the National Hockey League playoffs. "They've got a game
tonight," he says. "I'm so stoked for that! Can't wait to watch." And
he returns to Tennessee next week and hopes they'll still be in the
hunt so he can go to a game. "I hope they get to the Stanley Cup this
year. That'd be sick."
After his elimination last night, Colton shared his hard-learned
lesson with the remaining Idol contestants.
"What they have to realize now is that no one's safe," he says. "And
song choice is so important, obviously. They have to make sure they
choose the right song and up their game every week. If they don't,
they're in danger of leaving. That's just the reality.
"But they're excited, and I'm so proud of them. They're going to do
great things, no matter if they stay or go. I'm really excited for
them."
More:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2012/04/colton-dixon-singing-lady-gaga-may-have-cost-me/1--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
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