Scandal! 'X Factor' Finalist Dexter Haygood Claims His Elimination Was Rigged

Simon Cowell has been claiming all along that "The X Factor" is totally different from "American Idol," despite a number of stylistic and thematic similarities (like, for example, the fact that they're the same show). But here's one way that they definitely differ: "The X Factor" is rigged!

The current scandal centers around Dexter Haygood, the rock singer and Mick Jagger/James Brown enthusiast who made it to the live shows in the Over 30s category. Dexter struggled with identity all along as the judges told him he needed to stop being Jagger and start being himself, a note that Dexter never really took.

In fact, Dexter was given a spot in the live shows over other singers in the category that were probably more deserving, or at least more vocally talented. Many think that Dexter went on only because his backstory, which included a foreclosure in 2007 that left him homeless, made for good television.

So, on the first live show, Dexter was the one member of the Over 30's to go home, sending Josh Krajcik, Stacey Francis and LeRoy Bell on to the next round.

But according to Dexter, that wasn't entirely his fault: he claims the the producers had "their way of doing things" and said that they "wouldn't let me be me." That's a valid argument, considering that Dexter was consistently assigned strange choices of pop songs for his performances. During the "judges' homes" round, Dexter was given "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce to sing (which was a disaster) and was given a rock version of "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry for the live show. Why not assign him a rock song?

"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. So Nicole Scherzinger (who acted as his mentor on the show) took the complaint to producers, who cut him a deal: he could be eliminated in the first live round if he agreed to return for the season finale. Dexter supposedly took the deal.

If that's true, it explains a few things, namely Dexter's reaction at his elimination. The normally emotional Dexter, who cried in almost every episode thus far, simply said "I'm a little confused" but didn't seem all that heartbroken. It was an odd moment, one that I originally interpreted to be the "real" Dexter, a guy who's just a little off-kilter and was probably edited to look a certain way in the show thus far.

That may still be true, but there's another layer now: Dexter knew he was going home already. You have to wonder if any of the other contestants knew it as well... after all, Simone Battle had a music video ready to plug with her final words on the show.

With a show this overly pre-produced, are we really all that surprised at this news? And will we actually see Dexter return now that he's spilled the beans?