When American Idol first came out, everyone associated Kelly Clarkson with it. Then, as the show gained in popularity, the poster child was Carrie Underwood, and now the image that everyone thinks of when American Idol comes to mind is…Sanjaya Malakar?
In its fourth week of the finals, the competition is getting hotter and there are three frontrunners: Melinda Dolittle, LaKisha Jones, and, unfortunately, Sanjaya Malakar. Sanjaya “sang” Frank Sinatra’s version of “Cheek to Cheek” (originally sung by Fred Astaire in Top Hat) and once again it was an underwhelming performance.
“It’s no use commenting on your vocals. But you are an entertainer,” Randy said. We do have give Sanjaya that, he is one hell of an entertainer. The kid comes back every week with a new hairdo. Of course, nothing can top last week’s faux-hawk hairdo that had his hair formed into seven ponytails that all stood up forming the giant cockatoo-like concoction.
Simon, as sharp and witty as ever, provides his own constructive criticism for the American Idol phenomenon, “Let’s try a different tactic this week - Incredible!” Unfortunately, I am sure this won’t do us any good and Sanjaya will skate through to next week.
In order to get a full understanding of Sanjaya, let’s go through a week by week analysis of his previous three performances since he has been in the top 12.
Week one – Sanajaya “performs” Donna Ross’ “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and it is one of the worst performances ever on the show. Sanjaya, screaming like a dying howler monkey, felt like he has climbed his own mountain and had a great performance. The judges felt differently. “Thank God for the background singers,” said Randy.
Week two – Sanjaya “performs” “You Really Got Me” by The Kinks and butchers another classic. Only adding fuel to the fire, Idol producers saw a young teenager crying during the dress rehearsals due to the performers and knew they had gold in the form of a brace-faced Cindy Brady. The cameras closed up on her throughout the whole show and even brought her on stage at the end of show. What?! After Sanjaya’s “performance,” Simon had the wittiest comment ever uttered by the acerbic judge himself, “I think the little [crying] girl's face says it all.”
Week three – Sanjaya decides to choose a more recent song. Since Gwen Stefani is the special guest coach for the week (the theme was pop songs), Sanjaya decides to pay an homage to Stefani and sing “Bathwater” by her band No Doubt. I wish Sanjaya would drown in his own bathwater, but we never get what we ask for. So the judges sound in and Paula provides her useless “constructive criticism” as usual. I think she actually took her meds this week. I like her better when she is jumping around like a mentally unstable has-been pop star…which means I like it when Paula is being herself.
Anyway, this was the infamous episode where Sanjaya sported the faux-hawk seen around the world. Does this kid have any shame? Randy said he thought the hairdo was “interesting” and Simon, obviously frustrated and exasperated, said, “I don’t think it matters what we say anymore.”
Many people are blaming votefortheworst.com which has received the blunt of the blame. The creator says that he is doing this because “American Idol is nothing more than a karaoke contest.” Either way, these are just scapegoats for Sanjaya Fever. The truth is that people just plain like him. Why? I have no idea. He defies the laws of gravity. If he wins American Idol the universe might collapse into itself.
Only time will tell if Sanjaya will make it through to the end. If Sanjaya does win, American Idol’s credibility will be destroyed and Simon Cowell won’t have that. He recently was stated as saying, “He's not going to win. I won't be back if he does!”