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sanjaya malakar

• Birth name: Sanjaya JosephMalakar
• Birthplace: September 10, 1989 (1989-09-10) (age 19)
• Origin: Federal Way, Washington U.S.
• Genre(s): Pop
• Occupation(s): Singer, American Idol finalist
• Instrument(s): Vocals, guitar, keyboard
• Years active: 2006-present

The son of a classical Indian musician, Sanjaya Shekar Malakar, born September 10, 1989 in Federal Way, Washington, gained attention for competing in the sixth season of the hit reality TV show American Idol, making it to seventh place. Sanjaya’s parents, Vasudeva Malakar, his Bengali Indian father who emigrated to the States as a Hare Krishna pujari, and Jillian Recchi Blyth, his Italian American mother, divorced when Sanjaya was still young, having been seperated a year prior to the divorce. Sanjaya, and his older sister Shyamali, lived with their mother in a small apartment, where they had very little money coming in, relying on welfare. Besides living in the greater Seattle area, Sanjaya also lived in California and Kauai, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, he performed with Hawaii Children’s Theatre group, and also was a part of Total Experience Gospel Choir while in Seattle.

Sanjaya attended high school for a short period of time, but dropped out in order to focus on his music career, earning a GED. Sanjaya auditioned for American Idol on September 19, 2006 right after his sister. The judges all agreed that they liked Sanjaya more than Shyamali. Both made it to the Hollywood auditions, but only Sanjaya went on from there. But after making it as a finalist, Sanjaya started receiving some criticism from the judges, mostly by Simon Cowell. When it came to the public’s reaction, Sanjaya became the type of person someone either loves or hates. While he gained a lot of fans, he also got a lot of backlash. One Idol fan on the website MySpace started going on a hunger strike until he was voted off, but had to end it for his longer than expected stay. Sanjaya also became the target of Howard Stern’s Internet campaign “Vote For The Worst” in mid-March 2007. It urged people to vote for Sanjaya to win so the show could get canceled if the least talented contestant won. A month later, Sanjaya’s reign on American Idol ended, and the show’s ratings dropped 9% the following week, due to his departure.

But American Idol was not the last people saw of Sanjaya. The day after, continuing into the following week, Sanjaya made guest appearances on many popular talk shows, including The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and The Today Show. Sanjaya became what could be called the most popular contestant of the season, even with his run over. But the end of the show did not mark the end of his career in music. Sanjaya planned to use American Idol as a stepping stone to his career in show business, with plans to work in all that it had to offer: singing, acting, modeling, and anything else that could come up. He got offers from Nickelodeon and Disney. But Sanjaya had hopes to work in music with his sister in the future, first focusing on a solo career. He also plans to attend Berklee College of Music. Sanjaya went from becoming another contestant on American Idol to one of the most popular and talked about people of today.

Reviews From  Fans :

Sanjaya has all these crazy hairstyles and that’s why I laughed when I watched American Idol. I just don’t get it why people love him a lot. I mean he made it to the top 7 and yeah even J.Lo liked him, “Sanjaya really impressed me.” I somehow…

I loe sanjaya malakar…he is the great conteastant in american idol history…i think he has a really good voice and is a trendsetter….his hair is really kewl and he seems like a really nice person. I voted for him every week and i thought that…

Sanjaya has continued to amaze the viewing world, in one way or another. Dianna Ross had it right; Sanjaya is Love! Tony Bennett told Sanjaya that he is a big fan of his. Tony had it right when he said Sanjaya sings well, that he is terrific, that…

What a hottie! OMG I am in love with Sanjaya. Not only is he a great singer but he is SO CUTE. I think that Sanjaya should win. If he doesn’t I think I might just cry. And although some people may argue, I LOVE his hair, I mean some of them were…

I am not a fan of “American Idol.” Frankly, the show annoys me. But in March, there was something about a contestant named Sanjaya on “Best Week Ever.” And the next day, my favorite performer on SNL, Andy Samberg, played him on Weekend Update….

…….

You guys! There’s only three weeks left till the American Idol finale! Which means there’s only three more weeks until Adam Lambert is our country’s first, um, truly fabulous Idol! (Right? Right!)

After seven seasons, we all know that it doesn’t really matter who wins—just as long as they make it to the finals. Past finalists have won Oscars, conquered song charts, and stormed Broadway, while winners like Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks are belting power ballads at county fairs.

So with universe’s cruel indifference in mind, let’s celebrate our Top 9 favorite Idol finalists (but not winners), with No. 10 left open for you to decide:

1. Sanjaya Malakar (season six): What if a unicorn could gallop into the Idoldome, stand upright, highlight his bangs, and hold a microphone? Would he be as jaw-droppingly amazing as Sanjaya? Unlikely.

2. Bo Bice (season four): Like bathtub hooch, some contestants get better with age. Bice the Elder (a descript 29 years old) rode the lightning all the way to second place. And some say that with the declaration of Bo Bice Day in Alabama (May 24, y’all!) all the old wounds of the Old South were healed.

3. Melinda Dolittle (season six): If grown-ups could text as fast as tweens, Melinda could have taken top prize over Jordin Sparks. Sadly, her brassy vocals and unshakable sweetness were no match for the lust of the ruthless training-bra voting block.

4. David Archuleta (season seven): You could wear a purity ring on each finger, but you’d still never come near the soft-spoken innocence and eerie fragility of this little man-angel. Watching him sing was so pure and beautiful it was like a butterfly landing on a baby’s face.

5. Jennifer Hudson (season three): Hudson proves our E! Theory of Idol Finalists, that contests are better off lost. Since her sixth-round elimination, Hudson, an undeniable talent, has racked up more praise and awards than any B-list celebrity judge could ever dream of.

6. Jason Castro (season seven): When Hippie McDreadlocks botched some Dylan lyrics, we knew it was time for him to go. It was painful to hear Simon hiss that Castro’s final performance was “a massacre,” but take heart, Castro. In the words of Dylan: “Everybody must get stoned.”

7. Nikki McKibbin (season one): Nikki took a page from the Courtney Love playbook of fame: This pixie did a little too much dust and landed herself in Celebrity Rehab and Sober House. But she’ll always be the punky upstart that gave the toothless talents of Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson a run for their money.

8. Clay Aiken (season two): Who knew he’d be the best thing to happen to comedians since cocaine?

9 Tamyra Gray (season one): Tamyra had one of the most scandalous, premature exits in Idol history. Questions still remain about shadowy cell phone conspiracies and tweens’ unquenchable thirst for diva tears.

10. You tell us! The E! Online offices have split into hostile camps with hourly knife fights because of this list. Time for you to weigh in: Who did we miss? Daughtry? Blake Lewis? Nadia Turner? Tell us!

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