Posted on 04/21/2007 2:19:16 PM PDT by Gengis Khan
Sanjaya Malakar, whose father hails from India, exited the American Idol stage this week after a long and unlikely run - and Indians seemed relieved to see him go.
While Malakar's goofy hairstyles and lacklustre singing captivated millions of Americans, his quirky appeal never resonated among Indians. Though the end of his run was front-page news, his exit was not mourned.
"Sanjaya is voted off American Idol - he's the only one weeping," read a front-page headline in The Indian Express, above a photo of his famous "ponyhawk" hairdo.
"Finally, Sanjaya sings his way out of Idol," read a Times of India headline.
Indians never connected with Malakar, 17, said Poonam Saxena, television critic for The Hindustan Times.
"He'll be forgotten I'm sure, unless he does something else big. Why would anyone remember him?" she said, dismissing Malakar as nothing more than "a spunky kid."
Perhaps Malakar's failure to make a mark in India can be attributed in part to the broadcast schedule. The Fox network show is seen a day late there, and on Star World TV, an English-language channel that attracts relatively few viewers in the country of 1.1 billion.
Despite the indifference, Malakar nominated himself as the next face, and voice, of Indian pop culture.
"It's time for an Indian musician to come to the scene and I'd like to be that person," The Times of India quoted him as saying.
Malakar may have also fallen victim to bad timing. News of his exit broke just as the royal couple of Bollywood, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, prepared for their wedding.
just a little boy needs to learn to wipe
I can’t really blame India for not embracing Sanjaya - they all knew he was just being the butt of Howard Stern’s “joke” the whole time.
He belongs to you..we have enough no talent nitwits.
Nah, I suspect there are plenty of 5 to 12 year old girls whose hearts are broken as well.
I think this is why Alec Baldwin freaked out on his daughter. She was hogging the phone line and he couldn`t vote for Sanjaya. “You are aaaa pig!!!!”
I stopped watch AI weeks ago so I missed him being voted off. My Mom still watches the show and said that Sanjay cried like a girl when he was voted off.
I never started.
Boy, was I ticked when they pushed back "House" 3 minutes a couple of weeks ago...
We are supposed to send you some in return for the jobs you are sending here. Thats was part of the deal.
What? Senjaya's not a girl? But [s]he's so cute!
My respect for India and their cumulative intellect is even greater than before.
Actually, he is really likely a decent kid, just needs some guidance.
Yep. Good riddance. I can understand why the people of India were not particularly proud of what had become practical joke that ran too long. I found it painful to watch.
Indians still understand shame.
I wonder how the Chinese felt about William Hung?
I cant believe this....
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=0de57744-4c66-4d21-8570-db8c8eec0efc&;
Further proof that the drugs have eaten Britney’s brain.
Perhaps she can personally relate to his lack of talent.
well that’s it then, I need bigger teeth.
I'm confused, which person's involvement do you find unbelievable?
l o l
Also to Italy. The dude’s half-
Italian. :^)
I'm sure many would like to hang with the master of musical sub-mediocrity.
Anyway, Indians (and Sanjaya, apparently) shouldn't consider Sanjaya Indian any more than Chinese should consider William Hung Chinese--they're both Americans, and should consider themselves that, and the two Asian countries should consider them that, and other Americans should consider them that.
Good question.... :)
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