Sanjaya Malakar

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Sanjaya Malakar

Background information
Birth name Sanjaya Malakar
Born September 10, 1989 (age 17)
Seattle, Washington, US
Origin Flag of United States Federal Way, Washington, US
Genre(s) Pop
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 2007—present

Sanjaya Malakar (Bengali: সঞ্জয় মালাকার) (born September 10, 1989 in Seattle, Washington) is an American singer who is currently a finalist on the sixth season of American Idol.

Contents

Early years

Malakar is from Federal Way, Washington[1] and comes from a musical family, as his father is a classical Indian musician. Malakar is half Bengali Indian on his father's side and half Italian on his mother's side.[2] He has an older sister Shyamali, who is two years his senior and is also a singer, as is their cousin Camila.[3] He attended Shorecrest High School for one year before transferring to the newly developed Todd Beamer High School, but left high school early, electing for a GED in order to focus on a music career and participate on American Idol. [3]

Although Malakar spent the majority of his formative years in the Seattle area, he has also lived in California[3] and Honolulu, Hawaii, where he performed with the Hawaii Children's Theater group.[4] While in Seattle, he spent three years with the Total Experience Gospel Choir after being referred by an aunt.[5]

American Idol

On September 19, 2006, then 17-year-old Malakar auditioned for American Idol in Seattle, Washington with his 19-year-old sister Shyamali, and both received invitations to the Hollywood round. However, Shyamali was cut from the show at the end of the round. After learning that he made the top 40, Sanjaya did not immediately celebrate and instead went to console his sister.

Malakar cited Stevie Wonder as his idol, and sang Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" at his Seattle audition. For his performance as a finalist, Malakar performed "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." The judges have been largely critical of his performances since the audition, though Simon Cowell admitted that Malakar is "popular" with the voters while Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul gave a more positive appraisal of his "You Really Got Me" performance in the Top 11. Although he was in the Bottom Three on March 14, 2007, Malakar survived elimination; the next week he avoided the Bottom Two and was voted into the Top 10.

On March 27, Malakar sang No Doubt's "Bathwater" wearing a wild, spiky hairstyle known as a fauxhawk and forgot some of the words to the song. The following night, host Ryan Seacrest walked out on stage wearing a wig with the same hairstyle. Once again, Malakar avoided the Bottom Three and entered the Top 9.

Performances

  1. Seattle Audition - "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" - Stevie Wonder
  2. Hollywood Audition "Some Kind of Wonderful" - Grand Funk Railroad
  3. Top 24 - "Knocks Me Off My Feet" - Stevie Wonder
  4. Top 20 - "Steppin' Out With My Baby" - Irving Berlin
  5. Top 16 - "Waiting On the World to Change" - John Mayer
  6. Top 12 - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Theme: Diana Ross) - Bottom 2
  7. Top 11 - "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks (Theme: British Invasion)
  8. Top 10 - "Bathwater" - No Doubt (Theme: Pop songs)

Controversy

On March 19, 2007, Howard Stern announced that he was launching a campaign with his listeners to vote for Malakar to win the competition.[6] Some Stern regulars, such as Jeff The Drunk, have claimed to have voted for Malakar at least 300 times. The weblog Vote for the Worst has Malakar as its current "pick" for the sixth season top 12 after previous candidates Antonella Barba and Sundance Head were eliminated.[7]

A few American Idol fans who use MySpace have claimed to be on hunger strikes until he is voted off.[8] Conversely, a 13-year-old girl named Ashley Ferl was highlighted repeatedly during Malakar's performance in the Top 11 episode, crying tears of joy, although Ferl also cried for Melinda Doolittle and many other contestants.[9] The controversy and fan reaction were satirized on the March 24, 2007 broadcast of Saturday Night Live, during the Weekend Update segment (the show's musical guest for the night was Carrie Underwood, the winner of the fourth season of American Idol). Malakar was portrayed by Andy Samberg, and the crying Ferl was portrayed by Kristin Wiig. Also feigning tears in the audience were Fred Armisen and Dan Aykroyd. [10]

Simon Cowell has threatened to leave American Idol if Malakar wins. Some commentators also believe that if Malakar wins, it could be a shark jumping moment for American Idol.[11]

References

  1. ^ America Idol Season Six Top 24 Contest--~~~~ant Sanjaya Malakar (text). Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ a b c http://seattle.about.com/od/artsentertainment/p/sanjayamalakar.htm
  4. ^ Sanjaya surprises some after surviving 'Idol' cut. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  5. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070328/ap_en_ot/american_idol_malakar;_ylt=AhOOtG3MRAjOufuDhk6jhEHMWM0F
  6. ^ Harris, Chris (2007-03-20). Is Howard Stern Behind Sanjaya Malakar's Staying Power On 'Idol'?. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  7. ^ Vote For The Worst - Sanjaya Malakar (2007-03-21). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  8. ^ Sanjaya Malakar Inspires a Hunger Strike (2007-03-21). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  9. ^ Dreams do come true for ‘Idol’ fan. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  10. ^ Saturday Night Live, March 24, 2007
  11. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1582430.ece

External links

Persondata
NAME Malakar, Sanjaya
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American Idol finalist
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Seattle, Washington
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH


American Idol Season 6
Melinda Doolittle | Gina Glocksen | LaKisha Jones | Blake Lewis | Sanjaya Malakar
Chris Richardson | Haley Scarnato | Jordin Sparks | Phil Stacey | Chris Sligh | Stephanie Edwards | Brandon Rogers
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/a/n/Sanjaya_Malakar_f743.html"