Removing any flowers and/or buds will encourage more flowers as well as new leafy growth. Best plan is to remove them when they appear, and feed with a nitrogenous organic fertilizer. (Nitrosol) To encourage top growth pinch off lateral growing tips when they appear.

On the contrary, azaleas bud from the flower base. If you leave the flowers till they begin to wilt, then new growth will follow.
Also, DO NOT use a high nitrogen fertilizer. Use a balanced fertilizer that has an acidic base, such as Miracid or an orchid fertilizer. Azaleas need an acidic soil, and a moist (not wet) environment. Watering flushes the soil over time, and it is necessary to use acidic fert to bring the ph back down again.

Please check your chemistry... Miracid does not add acid to any extent, the name is misleading. It's important to find a low pH fertilizer and go by that, not by a name.

Please read what I said again. I said "Use a balanced fertilizer that has an acidic base, such as Miracid or an orchid fertilizer." Does that not mean low ph to you?

Miracid contains boric acid and chelated iron. It does indeed add acid to the soil.

From the MSDS - "Combination plant food, soil acidifier and chelated iron formula"