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| Sanjaya Malakar |
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| American Idol Season 6 Contestant |
| Sanjaya Malakar |
Sanjaya Shekar Malakar (born September 10, 1989) is an American entertainer who competed in the sixth season of the popular televison show American Idol. Malakar gained notoriety as an American Idol finalist for being received badly by the show's judges, particularly Simon Cowell, yet advancing in the contest with public votes. He was eliminated from the show in 7th place on April 18, 2007.
Post-American Idol
Shortly after being eliminated, Malakar was invited to the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner as a People Magazine guest. Malakar was popular at the dinner and was even prompted for an autograph by New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Malakar made after show appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Access Hollywood, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet, Extra, The Early Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Additionally, he appeared as a guest on Nickelodeon's afternoon block[43]. Upon meeting Billy Ray Cyrus, he has reportedly been offered a guest spot on Disney Channel's Hannah Montana.
Malakar has claimed that he and his sister, Shyamali, are planning to sing together in the future, and, although he also eventually plans on going to the Berklee College of Music with her, Malakar claims that he would like to have "the full entertainment business and career,” including music, acting, modeling, and any other opportunities that arise.
On April 19, 2007, it was announced that Malakar was one of the 200 nominees for TIME's 100 Most Influential People."
On April 28, 2007, the Federal Way City Council announced it wishes to honor Malakar, but are unable to find his address or whereabouts.
Malakar was featured in the May 7, 2007 issue of People Magazine, where he talked about his American Idol run, his younger years, and future aspirations. The article mentions that he was raised vegetarian, a diet he still mainly follows.
Public reaction
One American Idol fan on MySpace claimed to be on a hunger strike until Malakar was voted off, but later retracted after his stay was longer than expected.
Other members of the MySpace online community created a page entitled Team Sanjaya in support for him. However, members of the online community have contributed semi-fictional web sites such as Sanjaya-Idol, appearing to portray Malakar in a more satirical but supportive way. A 13-year-old girl named Ashley Ferl was highlighted repeatedly during Malakar's performance in the Top 11 episode, crying tears of joy, although Ferl also cried for Melinda Doolittle, Jordin Sparks, and many other contestants. The controversy and fan reaction were satirized on the March 24, 2007 broadcast of Saturday Night Live, during the Weekend Update segment. Malakar was portrayed by Andy Samberg, and the crying girl was portrayed by Kristin Wiig. Also feigning tears in the audience were Fred Armisen and Dan Aykroyd. Samberg portrayed Malakar again during the monologue of the April 21, 2007 episode, singing the song "Something To Talk About" as a duet with host Scarlett Johansson. Zach Braff said "Vote for Sanjaya" before a preview of his next film, The Ex.[28] Websites parodying Malakar's success have recently appeared including If Sanjaya Wins and Sanjaya, The Apocalypse among many others.
On March 19, 2007, Howard Stern announced that he was launching a campaign with his listeners to vote for Malakar to win the competition.[29][30] Some Stern regulars, such as Jeff The Drunk, have claimed to have voted for Malakar at least 300 times -- largely in hopes of tormenting Wack Pack member and American Idol traditionalist Eric the Midget. Later, when asked for a reaction, Malakar told Jimmy Kimmel that his aunt had voted 1,100 times." The weblog Vote for the Worst had Malakar as its current "pick" for the sixth season top 12 until he was eliminated. Previous candidates Antonella Barba and Sundance Head were supported by the website before they were eliminated.
Simon Cowell told Extra that had Malakar won, he would not have returned as a judge to the show, even though he is contractually obligated to return. The show's executive producer predicted that Malakar would not win. Some commentators have remarked that the judges seemed to have stopped giving thoughtful critiques of Malakar's performances due to their disdain that he had gone so far in the competition. Randy Jackson went as far to remark that "I cannot even say anything on the vocals anymore", in his critique of Malakar after his performance during the top nine. Some believe that it would have been a turning point leading toward decline and eventual cancellation for American Idol if Malakar had won.[39] Others, however, believe that the franchise is benefiting from the publicity, which is more than in any recent season of Idol.[40] On the April 17 broadcast of American Idol, Simon Cowell further said of the controversy, "I know this has been funny for a while, but based on the fact that we are supposed to be finding the next American Idol it [Malakar's performance] was hideous."
The controversy spawned a plethora of editorial colloquialisms, like a "Fanjaya" to denote a zealous fan.
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