WARNING: Don’t read any further if you don’t want to know who was kicked off of last night’s episode of The X Factor. For everyone else, read on for the exit interview with the first act voted off the show this week:
Image Credit: Nino Munoz/Fox
When the first act voted off during last night’s episode of The X Factor stepped backstage to meet with press, he was all smiles. “There’s no reason to be crying,” said Astro. “We going to have a future. I was actually crying — I don’t know if they saw it on camera, but when I walked down to get out of the auditorium, I was tearing up. And then I said, Wait a minute, why am I crying again? This is a stepping stone. This is just the beginning for my career.”
Indeed, Astro was anxious to get his post-X Factor career started as soon as possible. “I’m ready to work,” he said earnestly. “I’m going to be doing original material every day. Releasing a song almost every week, if I can.” The preternaturally talented rapper explained he discovered he works best under pressure while on X Factor, no more so when he changed his movie-week song at the last minute after mentor L.A. Reid told him the song he was initially going to perform (which he wouldn’t reveal) was “wack.” So Astro said he had two hours to pen alternative lyrics to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” instead. “With songs like the Michael Jackson [number "Black or White"], I had a day, and it was harder to remember it. But when I had two hours to remember it, I got it out perfectly.” Astro also revealed that early in the competition, he was considering leaving the show because he thought he’d be forced to recite the set lyrics to his song choices. “I love writing,” he said. “The fact that the show let me write my own lyrics and let me be me on the show — I can respect that, and I’m proud of it.”
If it sounds like Astro’s letting his ego get the better of him — like he infamously did two weeks ago – the 15-year-old also said with a smile, “I learned [on the show] that I’m ignorant. I learned that I gotta learn to basically deal with stuff better.” When asked if he considered himself a star, Astro demurred. “I ain’t a star, man. I’m just a kid from Brooklyn who’s living his dream. I ain’t going to say I’m a star for people to call me cocky on the Internet or anything.”
But almost in the same breath, Astro also talked about hoping to perform with Jay-Z and Kanye West on the X Factor finale, and his plans to branch out to TV, movies, cartoons, and clothing lines. “I’m going to be everywhere,” he said without a hint of irony. There is one question, however, that quickly made the self-confident kid crumble with embarrassment. So, Astro, who is this “Molly” you gave a shout out to? “Yeah, I don’t really want to talk about that,” he said sheepishly. “That was silly of me to do. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Read more:
‘The X Factor’ exit interview: Drew says ‘I was honestly dreading the results all day’
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‘The X Factor’ on the scene: Simon doesn’t know what’s happening, but he knows he doesn’t like it
