Stacy Francis Interview
Did you really think that you could win this show or were you just looking to have a bigger audience to showcase your talents to?
I mean I think that at the end of the day, of course, I would have loved to have won. I’m not maybe as confident in myself to say that I think I should have won. I think that everybody in the competition, at the point when you get to top 12, top 10, I think we all definitely have a shot at it. So, I was definitely going for the $5 million for sure. I had my eye on the prize for sure, yes.
What did you think about Nicole and would you have rather had Simon or L.A. be your mentor instead?
Well, you know, I love Nicole very much, but the game was going really, really hard core. I feel like Simon Cowell definitely threw me under the bus as a judge. I definitely have an admiration for him as the creator of the show and the executive of the show. That’s doesn’t go into the game.
You know, as far as being in the game of the competition he only stood up, he gave standing ovations to his contestants. He made it very clear that he wants to take the crown for one of his girls. He was not supporting any other contestant that was not his contestant and for that reason I would have loved to have been in his category because he has a very strong voice and America listens to him and they appreciate what he has to say and he’s very influential.
Now, as the creator of the show that was the moment that I had to take last night to thank him as I did, because he gave me the opportunity to be there and for that I have so much admiration and respect for him.
There were a lot of tabloids and things saying how you had a very successful career before joining the X Factor. Do you think that played a role in the amount of votes?
I would hope not because Simon did come to my defense to make it clear that some people did have a professional career. Obviously, my career wasn’t as “successful” as people were saying because no one knew who I was until I cam on the X Factor stage.
So, it wasn’t like I was Janet Jackson and I came to do the X Factor, you know? So, I think that that was kind of silly that that was brought up. I think that people were looking for some sort of news to dish on me and those people got their wish. They wanted to see me off the show and that’s what they got.
It was quite the dramatic elimination, so can you tell us what was going through your head at that moment.
I was in a pure state of shock. I didn’t expect to go home. I had said to Nicole and Josh that I thought I’d be in the bottom two. Once we got to that stage for some reason my gut was telling me that. And I didn’t expect to go home and when I saw there was Astro standing next to me I was hoping that because he’s not a singer that they would have taken a position, you know, we’re going to let a singer go through.
And then when he had sort of a little attitude about it, he was kind of throwing it away I was hoping that they would take advantage of that, but they didn’t. I think Simon, he loves a little rebel and at the end of the day Astro is a very talented kid. You know, it’s hard when you’re standing there and you’re being judged and America is watching and the world is watching, it’s very stressful and I think he responded like a child would respond.
He’s 14 years old and it’s very difficult. I mean, I’m 42 and the night before and I stood there and my face wasn’t exactly as what it should be as far as smiling and being as light as I should have been. Sometimes we lose it. As artists, it’s very personal and it’s hard. So, I think that’s what happened to him.
And my heart goes out to him. I think he’s super talented. I watched him backstage writing lyrics and making beats and for 14 years old, he’s an extraordinary person and an extraordinary talent and I think he’s going to have a bright future ahead of him.
You weren’t always happy with your song choices. Did you always decide what to sing or how much of a role did Nicole actually play in that?
Well, you know, the thing that I regret, you know, Simon Cowell he picked up the announcement for that week and you know, that was a really good song choice. I really respect Simon as a recording executive. I think that unfortunately had his ego not come into play and had he not beat up Nicole so much about the fact that he picked my song, I would have loved for us to continue to work in a team sort of effort with Simon because I think he did have the right direction for me and up until that point, up until he stopped helping is when everything went crazy.
And I think we needed his viewpoint. I respect him for what he does for people over 40. Look at what he did for Susan Boyle. You know, I respect Nicole and I love her, but I think as a creative executive, that’s the lane that he’s in. So, that’s when I think I crashed and burned, those last two weeks when I did have his help and, unfortunately I wasn’t in his category. So, unfortunately, I had to bite the bullet.
what is the most important thing that you are going to take away from your time spent on the show?
I think the most important thing is just keeping my integrity. I learned a lot about my voice. When I was at boot camp, I was holding long notes and sort of not really getting what it meant to sing a song and deliver it and be in the moment. For so many years I’ve sung to try to prove myself and prove that I’m a great singer and I think this experience just really showed me how to take a song and make it my own and make it sort of a ministry to people and stir people’s souls, in the words of L.A. Reid.
And that’s the biggest thing that I got from it. Like I said, I spent so many years trying to prove myself and that’s what I had done at boot camp and Simon Cowell taught me how to not do that anymore, just to stand there and sing the song and take my time and pull people in as best I can in my music.
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