‘X Factor’ Contestant Dexter Haygood Claims He Made a Deal to Be Cut (Video)

The problem: He wanted to rock

"The X Factor" contestant Dexter Haygood tells Billboard he asked to be cut before his elimination because he wanted to rock.

"I wanted to leave the show because I was unhappy that I was unable to be a rock artist. I grew up on rock," said Haygood, 49, of Memphis, Tenn. He said he grew tired of singing pop tunes on the show before he was one of five contestants cut last week.

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Haygood, who was in mentor-judge Nicole Scherzinger's group of singers age 30 and older, said he told her two days before last Wednesday's live performance show that he was unhappy.

He asked, "Can you imagine Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, James Brown, doing 'uh oh uh oh uh'?," referencing Beyonce's "Crazy in Love."

He said Scherzinger, a former member of the Pussycat Dolls, took his complaint to the show's producers and offered a deal: he would be cut on Thursday's results show if he agreed to come back for the season finale.

Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Watch Haygood's audition:

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