Sanjaya Malakar
News (Page 2)

The Sanjaya Malakar publicity tour isn't over yet!

A couple days after attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner - and hanging out with model Petra Nemcova! - Sanjaya appeared on David Letterman last night to read the show's famous Top 10 List. This evening's edition?

The Top 10 Things I Learned on American Idol. And they were ...

10. The camera adds ten pounds to your mohawk
9. Work hard and make sacrifices, you can finish in 7th place
8. It's very important to "keep it real, dawg."
7. I should have gone for the Immunity Idol -- oh wait, that's "Survivor"
6. On-camera Simon Cowell is a bit nasty, but off-camera, he's a total jerk
5. Voting for yourself 100 times an hour causes some wicked carpal tunnel
4. When you forget the words, just do this (Sanjaya belts out, "OHHHHHHH")
3. Honestly, I thought I was auditioning for "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
2. Nothing
1. America loves performers with bad hair - right, Dave?

It received more attention than Haley Scarnato and her legs.

We're speaking, of course, about Sanjaya Malakar and his hair. But how much say did this American Idol favorite have in the styles that captivated America?

“Well with my hair, I always had an idea of what I wanted. The hair person would help me to execute it," Malakar said. "With the styling of my clothes and stuff, I just wanted to really capture my personality and put it out there. Then the stylist really helped me with that. So I did have a lot of help but the ideas were mainly mine.”

Even though American Idol viewers will likely never forget the ponyhawk, Sanjaya revealed that wasn’t actually his favorite hairstyle.

“My favorite hairstyle was when I sang “Besame Mucho” minus the grease, because I’ve always wanted my hair to be curly like that. It’s a little bit curly naturally but I mean that’s like my dream hair. So I really liked it.”

Okay, but was the altered lyrics during his farewell song - “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About ... other than hair” - an expression of frustration over how his hair got more attention than his singing?

“No, because at a certain point that had kind of become my thing, because I think that everyone – like everyone looks for something to grab onto with each contestant. So I feel like my hair was that for me. So that was just kind of my little joke back-at-you thing. I just wanted to put that out there.”

Fair enough. We wonder if Phil Stacey will joke about his scary resemblance to a vampire once he's voted off.

After being eliminated Wednesday night, Sanjaya Malakar sat down with Entertainment Weekly for an interview ...

Let's start with the positive. I love how you changed the lyrics of ''Something to Talk About'' to say ''other than hair'' instead of ''how about love.'' Did you plan that?
It was kind of on-the-spot. I was basically saying, ''Come on, America. There are so many more important things you can be talking about other than my hair.'' Because there are a lot of intense, important things going on. I just wanted to put that out there.

You hadn't even been in the bottom three for weeks, and then all of a sudden you got voted off. Were you shocked?
When I saw the show on Tuesday I felt like I was going home. I tend to be psychic because my name means ''Spiritual Psychic.'' If I am in any way, that was the point where it showed. I felt it in my bones that I was going home. On Wednesday I was just down in the dumps. People were coming up to me all day and saying ''What's wrong?'' I would say ''Nothing.'' I was just really quiet.

I love that you didn't try to hold back the tears after Ryan Seacrest announced you were going home.
It was sad. We've all become such a close family. We see each other all day, the contestants and the staff. To leave them is really hard. That's the hardest part of getting cut. When I was crying it wasn't even like I'm so sad for getting voted off. It was more that I was so sad to be leaving these people.

You hugged LaKisha Jones for a long time. Did she say anything that was especially comforting to you?
She just said, ''Stay strong and keep going because you're gonna be big.'' I really love every one of them with all my heart. I'm glad I was able to be in this show because they're all genuinely good people. It's hard to find people like that and I found it on a whim. I didn't even plan on auditioning. It was like, they're coming to the Seattle Center and I was like, ''Hey I can sing. Let's go!''

You're only 17 years old. I can't imagine having gone through everything you went through — for better and for worse — at 17. How did you cope?
My family was definitely a huge support and a really big reason I was able to stay for so long. Also, I didn't let things get to me. I knew if I did I would drive myself crazy. It's gonna happen. There are always haters and there is always support. If you focus on the hate it's gonna drive you crazy. I tried to focus on the positivity in everything, whether it was a negative comment or bad publicity. I tried to learn from everything that happened and being on this show was a huge learning experience.

Does that mean you found the positive in the Vote for the Worst website and the fact that Howard Stern wanted to bring the show down by encouraging his listeners to vote for you?
If someone is gonna vote for me on Vote for the Worst they're maybe gonna vote once or twice. Even if a million people vote once or twice, that's not going to make a dent in how the real fans vote. I feel like I got where I was because of my fans.

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It was a fun run.

But the bandanna look just didn't work for Sanjaya Malakar this week (and the awful singing may not have helped, either), as he was finally voted out of American Idol.

Standing next to Lakisha Jones - the contestant with the second lowest vote total last night - Sanjaya is about to learn his fate below ...

Simon Cowell may not be the only one sick of Sanjaya-mania.

American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar was booed by the crowd at a recent Dodgers-Padres baseball game in Los Angeles.

"He was just sitting there having a good time with his friends, just like a regular person. And when the Dodger camera noticed him, the cameraperson ran over and taped him."

"Sanjaya's face pops up on the big screen right away. At first he smiled, he seemed to like the attention. But then the entire crowd at the stadium started to boo and it was loud! His smile faded a bit and his eyes looked sad," said an eyewitness who was at the Dodger stadium to watch the game.

"It's like he was trying to keep a fake smile on, but you could tell he was crestfallen. He just kept waving and smiling for a few seconds more then his image went off the screen," added the eyewitness.

Awww, that's too bad. We don't want Malakar to be hurt. But it is time for him to tonight. Let's leave the competition up to actual talents, such as Melinda Doolittle.

Consider 19-year-old Shyamali Malakar as one of the people who is surprised her brother Sanjaya has made it this far in American Idol's sixth season.

"I did not expect him to get as far as he did, and I did not expect him to be such a phenomenon, but he could get as far as [the top] four or five," Shyamali recently told TV Guide. "I did not think Stephanie [Edwards] or Sabrina [Sloan] would get cut out so early, and I did not see Gina [Glocksen] going before Haley [Scarnato]. It is hard to predict."

Shyamali can be frequently seen during in the audience of Idol 6's live performance and results shows, and if she appears familiar it's because she also auditioned for the reality competition series. However unlike her 17-year-old brother, she was unable to crack the Top 24.

"I thought from the beginning that [Sanjaya] would make it through, but I was definitely surprised [that I didn't], since on a professional level I have more experience and am much more able to deal with the pressure," she said. "I was not angry but disappointed in the process. I am not resentful. It is definitely a high-pressure thing. The closer I am to it, the happier I am [not to be] the one [enduring it]."

Other than their blood relation and vocal abilities, Sanjaya and Shyamali share something else in common: criticism from Simon Cowell.

"I believed Simon more [when he was criticizing me] than Sanjaya believes him [now]," Shyamali said. "I admire Simon for being honest, but I do not know that he is right in everything he says. He tries too hard to be mean, and I tried to change [his opinion of me]. If you can't sell yourself, it is hard for other people to accept you in the end."

While Sanjaya might be none-the-wiser of what critics are saying about him because he's living in the Idol bubble, Shyamali said she knows how he would handle it.

"He is thin-skinned as far as being empathetic and having concern for friends and family, but he does not worry about criticism. He has no trouble changing his style and crazy hairdo, he does not care what people say. He says, 'I am confident,'" Shyamali said. "I am proud of Sanjaya and how he handles the controversy. He doesn't read the blogs and doesn't watch TV - he's isolated in the environment - so he doesn't have to be as exposed to it as I am. But it doesn't seem to be getting him down."

She added her family is also dealing with Sanjaya competing all the attention that comes with it.

"It has been both a learning experience and a dream come true. I never would have expected to get the exposure and recognition and popularity that Sanjaya has gotten, because there is no other way to achieve it," she said. "It is a whirlwind of craziness, random people prying into your personal life. It is hard to prepare for, it all happens so fast. It has definitely changed everybody's lives, for all of my family."

Shyamali said she was studying at Evergreen St. College but is currently preparing to move to Los Angeles and pursue a music career. While she didn't expect her baby brother to make it as far as he has, she hinted it wouldn't surprise her if he made it farther.

"I could see Sanjaya and Melinda Doolittle in the end, which would be crazy. It all depends on who is more popular," Shyamali surmised.

The war in Iraq. Sanjaya Malakar.

These appear to be the two biggest areas of debate in the country at the moment. Let's see where last season's runner-up, Katharine McPhee, falls on the latter question.

“First of all, I think Sanjaya is an absolute phenomenon,” she said in an interview with Jam! Showbiz. ”Every year, there’s something that makes the show even bigger than it was the year before. I’m on the Sanjaya train! I’m like, ‘Go Sanjaya!’”

If not for the show, McPhee also acknowledges shemight not be with us today.

“I do believe American Idol saved my life,” she confessed. “Finally, it felt like doors were opening for me and the dark clouds were separating. Making it to the finals really saved me. I was able to find what I was passionate about, which was important because the things you love in life will eventually overcome the demons.”

And she’s perfectly okay with having to prove herself to a few skeptics.

“There are certain challenges being from American Idol, like the (proving your) legitimacy thing, but there’s much less of that now. Look at Kelly Clarkson and Reuben (Studdard) and Jennifer Hudson — they’ve all sold records and it’s proving that real artists do come out of Idol. I’m grateful for that,” McPhee said.

... or will she?

Hillary Clinton was asked during a recent radio call-in show what Americans should do about the Sanjaya Malakar situation on American Idol and she refused to take a stance.

Instead, the Democratic senator from New York answered like a true politician.

"That's the best question I've been asked in a long time," quipped Clinton. "Well, you know, people can vote for whomever they want. That's true in my election, and it's true on American Idol," she said.

How diplomatic and profound, Mrs. Clinton. But, come on, step up like Carson Daly and tell us whether or not Sanjaya has your vote!

Carson Daly admits he's addicted to American Idol – and its surprising breakout star.

"I'm just enjoying it now because of this whole idea that Sanjaya might win," Daly told People magazine Thursday at a party for the five-year anniversary of his show Last Call at Social Hollywood.

Daly is impressed by the style of Sanjaya Malakar more than his singing skills. No real surprise there.

"I think there's a lot of people like me that may not watch it every single week – or have a deep passion for American Idol – but now we're hooked," Daly said, "because of this idea that this guy's got a new haircut every day."

Daly also revealed his strategy for seeing the 17-year-old win it all. Asked if he had voted for Sanjaya, he replied: "No, I haven't, but I plan on it – repeatedly."

We're sure the ex-boyfriend of Jennifer Love Hewitt is not alone.

No, seriously. This is literally the case.

Reportedly, the name "Sanjaya" in Sanskrit means "victory." After last night's show - in which Haley Scarnato was voted off by viewers - everyone's favorite teensage singer is one step closer to fulfilling the promise of that name.

According to wikipedia, Sanjaya is also a character in the Hindu epic story Mahabharata. In that tale, he "is known to be brutally frank in his recital of the day's battle events and his own opinions."

Interestingly, many critics would agree that the words "brutal" and "recital" are perfect when used to describe Sanjaya Malakar.