Dexter Haygood Says He Asked to Get Cut From ‘X-Factor’

Following last week's unconventional -- and some may say vocally unjust -- performance, it wasn't a big surprise that Dexter Haygood was eliminated from 'X-Factor.' But it may come as a surprise that he chose to leave. What pushed him?

"I wanted to leave the show because I was unhappy that I was unable to be a rock artist. I grew up on rock," Haygood told Billboard. Haygood explains that he wasn't thrilled with the songs he had to perform on the show because they didn't represent him as a rock artist -- or a man, for that matter. He told Billboard, "Being called on to do pop songs such as Beyonce's 'Crazy in Love' and Katy Perry's 'I Kissed a Girl' was aggravating. Can you imagine Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, James Brown, doing 'uh oh uh oh uh' (the 'Crazy in Love' chorus)?"

Haygood pointed at producers, claiming they "seemed to have their way of doing things. I'm not sure why they wouldn't let me be me." This may come as somewhat of a surprise to L.A. Reid, who, following Haygood's mashup of 'I Kissed a Girl' and Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' told him, "I think you found Dexter."

"I was treated more like a character than an artist," Haygood vented. "This is TV, they want a good story, you know? But they took that and I didn't get a chance to be an artist. I was doing things I would never do," he said.

Haygood expressed his frustrations solely to his Over 30s mentor, Nicole Scherzinger, who helped release him from his pop Hades. Scherzinger in turn spoke with producers and came back the same day with a deal: Haygood was free to go after Thursday's results show in exchange for returning for the finale.

Haygood now has the freedom not only to rock, but to rock out with Xavion. Since his release, he's reunited with his '80s outfit and may perform on the finale. It sounds like he finally found Dexter.