Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Simon Cowell got it wrong.   Again.

Near the end of Thursday’s results episode of The X Factor, he justifiably scolded the kid rapper known as Astro for his attitude.

Then, instead of casting the vote that would have turned Astro’s fate over X Factor viewers, he decided to send him through to the top nine anyway.

He said he was making his decision to oust Stacy Francis based on who he thinks has the best chance of winning the competition.

Hmm.  We’ll see.

If you missed it, Astro, aka The Astronomical Kid, aka Brian Bradley, aka The Kid with the Big Head, landed in the bottom two last night.

And to say he didn’t handle it very professionally would be an understatement of a magnitude that might match Astro’s ego.

First, he showed up on stage for his save-me performance and said he “really didn’t want to perform.”  That he thought is was unnecessary, but he’d let the decision in the hands of his mentor, L.A. Reid.

L.A. encouraged him to perform.

So Astro launched into a lackadaisical rendition of “Never Can Say Goodbye.”  Don’t think it was lackadaisical?  Just watch it again.   And remember, this is the performance contestants give to prove to the judges they’re worth keeping around.

L.A. certainly thought it was lackadaisical.  He scolded Astro for acting a little like a quitter.  But he voted to send him through to the next round.  No big surprise there.  He is, after all, Astro’s mentor.

Nicole Scherzinger cast a vote in favor of Stacy Francis.  Again, no big surprise.   Nicole mentored Stacy.

Paula Abdul encouraged both contestants to walk with “gratitude” for the opportunity to perform on The X Factor stage, then voted in favor of Astro.

Which left everything in the hands of Simon Cowell.

He accused Astro of being disrespectful.  The youngster disagreed.

Then added this:  “I just feel like … if you’re going to put me in the bottom two, I don’t want to perform for people who don’t want me here.  You know what I’m saying. That’s it.”

Later, he apologized.  To say the apology didn’t seem heartfelt would be an understatement that, again, might match Astro’s ego.  Might.

Astro’s earlier comment was greeted with a chorus of boos from The X Factor audience.

When Simon stopped asking questions and began considering his decision, a chant of “Stacy, Stacy, Stacy” broke out.

Then Simon voted to send Stacy home.  Apparently, he thinks Astro has a chance to win the competition.

Before last night, that might have been a possibility.  Indeed, Astro has seemed too talented to land in the bottom two.

Now?

Well, I’m sure his supporters will vote like crazy next week to try to keep Astro out of the bottom two again.

But I’d say his chances of picking up new fans as the show progresses just got flushed down the toilet. And he might have turned off some prospective employers in the process.  After the show, the 15-year-old from Brooklyn was getting absolutely savaged on Twitter.

And let’s remember, this is hardly the first time Astro has thrown a diva fit.  There have been several occasions when he’s come across with an attitude far greater than his accomplishments.

And wasn’t he the guy sitting alone at the back of the stage when Boot Camp started, refusing to dance with the other contestants, saying he didn’t audition for the show to dance?

But back to Simon.  He should have delivered an even sterner message to Astro last night.  He should have voted to keep Stacy.

That would have turned the verdict over to fans.  Then, for the first time since voting began, the person sent home would be determined by who got the fewest votes.

And Simon would have been delivering a crystal clear message to Astro:  If you act like that on my show, you lose my support.

This competition, after all, is not simply about who’s the biggest talent.

Simon is supposed to be looking for The X Factor, that certain something in a person’s makeup or character that endears them to fans.

I’m pretty darn sure what Astro displayed Thursday night was the exact opposite.

Want to watch it again? Here are the clips of Astro’s save-me performance and last night’s elimination.