Me and My Imaginary Friends

The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Good Bye-a Sanjaya

Too bad "Good Riddiance-a" doesn't rhyme better, or "Don't let the door hit you on the butt-a."

I have refrained from boring you good people with American Idol banter, mostly because I have been out of town so much and am always playing catch up.  However, last night's ouster was momentous enough for me to blog about. 

Perhaps you've heard or seen photos of Sanjaya.  He started out with such promise.  He and his sister auditioned at the same time.  She, being older and more sexy, was supposed to be the star of the family.  While the judges invited both contestants to Hollywood, it was clear that they preferred Sanjaya's shy clear voice to his sister's ho-hum ho-ish routine, especially after she was cut before him.  Sanjaya endeared himself to mothers and tweens all over the country when he ran out looking for his sister and cried with her after she was cut.  A sweet, cuddly persona was born.  Imagine a teenage Michael Jackson from India.  He was virtually irresistible to tender hearted viewers.

The fact that he made it to one of the final 7 proves that tender hearted viewers have no business voting on this show.  The kid literally fell apart after his sister was kicked off.  He became awkward and painful to watch - again, think Michael Jackson during his teen years.  His voice was woefully inadequate and he barely sounded good enough for living room karaoke in the home of a deaf person.  But he survived week after week after week. 

I've read (or heard) in a couple of places that there was a website called "Vote for the Worst" that was trying a kind of "hostile takeover" of the show by organizing people to put all their voting power behind the worst contestant.  It was rumored that they were the reason Bucky Covington lasted so long last season and why Sanjaya seemed like he was on his voice-cracking way to becoming the next American Idol.  I actually believe some of this because even Sanjaya appeared to lose interest in his own talent, choosing instead to pretend he was a hairdresser Barbie head in the hands of a maniacal 10 year old girl.  He actually wore his hair in a mohawk one night, a night that was NOT punk themed.  Each week people tuned in just to see what new thing he'd done with his hair rather than to hear him sing.  (As bad as the mohawk was, the dirty-old-man 5 o'clock shadow goatee he wore for Latin night was even worse - very creepy.)

Of course, Sanjaya came across as a nice kid.  But in no way, shape or form did he have the talent to be on that stage.  He was as bad as people from the first season. 

As you already surmised, Sanjaya's run on Idol ended last night.  He cried.  The audience literally cheered.  I don't know if they were cheering as an expression of support to him or to indicate that they were glad he finally got the boot.  I know why I was cheering.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I felt guiltily like screaming

And don't let the door hit ya...

at the TV.

10:08 AM  

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