USA: Sanjaya Malakar makes an appearance on a late night talk show after being voted off American Idol, while fans in New York reacted to the news of his departure from the show

Wannabe pop star Sanjaya Malakar, the "American Idol" contestant best known for his wacky hairdos, was booted from the hit show on Wednesday (April 18), disappointing a collection of hard core smart alecks who delighted in mocking his mediocre singing and extreme hair styles. Sanjaya stunned viewers by remaining on the show for over two and a half months, despite consistently poor ratings from Idol judges. With the help of websites like votefortheworst.com, Sanjaya returned to Idol week after week. But last night, Sanjaya's fans, called 'Fanjayas', wouldn't rally around his latest performance. Shruti Gangul, a media expert based in New York, said, "Simon (Judge Simon Cowell) said some really awful things about him in the past and in earlier rounds and that hadn't really influence the (fans) decisions at that point. But I think his performance was quite terrible yesterday... last night... which is why he was voted off. But I have no doubt that he has some sort of career in the entertainment industry lined up for him." Simon Cowell, the more outspoken and controversial Idol judge, termed Sanjay's final performance of Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning tune "Something to Talk About" as "utterly horrendous." Millions of fans revelled in his amicable mediocrity each week, but finally his lack of singing prowess was something the fans couldn't ignore. One New York fan said she was ecstatic Sanjaya is off the show: "Because I didn't think he could sing. Week after week he could not sing. Again the vocals may have, you know, the stage presence may have, you know, then that's the only reason that he stayed. But for the most part, it was time for him to go." Satellite radio DJ Howard Stern urged his listeners to vote for Malakar in order to ruin the top-rated show. But some Idol fans felt that Sanjaya's presence was ruining the authenticity of this show. One teenage fan reacted to Sanjay's departure by saying : "He's not a great singer, and he didn't deserve to be on the show in the first place. Yeah.. it's just.. it would be a waste of money to buy the record. He wasted a space on the show... and he's finally gone!" Speculation is already growing about Sanjaya's next move. One long-time fan looked forward to seeing Sanjaya in the spotlight again soon. "Yes, I'm going to miss him a whole lot. He should come back. Somebody should give him a record deal," she said. While he might now be out of the show, Sanjaya is still getting superstar attention with an appearance on the premiere U.S. late night talk show, "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Thursday (April 19). Sanjaya was the butt of many jokes by late night comedians, many deriding him for having a mediocre voice. But the young singer said he still has dreams of getting started in "the (music) business."

ITN Source | April 26, 2007

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