Sanjaya
Paul in Cannon Beach
4,703 Posts
Until last week I never had a reason to watch "American Idol". Too much singing.
But all that has been changed by a scrappy kid from Federal Way Washington with the voice of an angel and dreams of hitting the big time.
Ok, not really. The kid can't sing. But America keeps voting for him and keeping him on the show. He has achieved a sort of popstar status without the pesky requirements of any talent or hard work.
Why? Howard Stern believes Sanjayay's success is directly related to his Indian heritage and the millions of workers from India calling in on breaks from their outsourced American jobs.
More likely its the result of support from [url]www.votefortheworst.com[/url] a website devoted to voting for the least qualified American Idol candidate.
True fans of the show are livid. The judges are speechless. Sanjaya is not at all emberassed by the support he has gotten, regardless of the reason, and seems to relish the spotlight. He seems to know that he could go onstage and make "body music" with his armpits and still win.
As a non-American Idol fan, I feel my perspective is fair and balanced. The Sanjaya phenomenon is simply America re-asserting itself over a runaway show. American Idol is a manipulative show. Every season has its "scandals" designed to boost its popularity to a fever pitch. AI is a cash cow that taunts and teases its viewers relentlessly.
Now, the tables have turned. The show is realizing that the true American Idol is ourselves. We love nothing more than building up our heroes only to knock them down again and reassert ourselves firmly as the one and only star of the show.
But all that has been changed by a scrappy kid from Federal Way Washington with the voice of an angel and dreams of hitting the big time.
Ok, not really. The kid can't sing. But America keeps voting for him and keeping him on the show. He has achieved a sort of popstar status without the pesky requirements of any talent or hard work.
Why? Howard Stern believes Sanjayay's success is directly related to his Indian heritage and the millions of workers from India calling in on breaks from their outsourced American jobs.
More likely its the result of support from [url]www.votefortheworst.com[/url] a website devoted to voting for the least qualified American Idol candidate.
True fans of the show are livid. The judges are speechless. Sanjaya is not at all emberassed by the support he has gotten, regardless of the reason, and seems to relish the spotlight. He seems to know that he could go onstage and make "body music" with his armpits and still win.
As a non-American Idol fan, I feel my perspective is fair and balanced. The Sanjaya phenomenon is simply America re-asserting itself over a runaway show. American Idol is a manipulative show. Every season has its "scandals" designed to boost its popularity to a fever pitch. AI is a cash cow that taunts and teases its viewers relentlessly.
Now, the tables have turned. The show is realizing that the true American Idol is ourselves. We love nothing more than building up our heroes only to knock them down again and reassert ourselves firmly as the one and only star of the show.
Comments
It's obvious he's being propped up by the true admirers, the "vote for the worst" crowd, and those who would like to see the show mocked. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with any of these.
It will be interesting to see how he does against the real talent when all the borderliners are voted off. The guy who got voted off last night deserved it, though. He sucked. As far I was concerned, the only thing he had going for him is that he looked like the lead singer of the Turtles, which isn't saying much.
I don't think anyone can (maybe I should use the word "should") beat Melinda.
Can he sing? Probably not any worse than "idols" from my day such as Ricky Nelson, Eddie Cochran and Fabian. And he is creating the same fervor as former teen idols.
He is far from the best singer on the show, but he is starting to create "idol" status. If the trend continues, he should win.
Last week I was discussing Sanjaya with one of my co-workers who has never watched AI but when he heard about Sanjaya, he was immediately drawn to the idea of ruining American Idol. He said he may even call in to vote.
I dont know when the show is on so I have never voted.
Also, how sad is your* life if you spend two hours of it each week trying to ruin something for a large portion of the tv-watching population?
*I don't mean "you" as in YOU, I just mean the generic "you," directed towards the people like your coworker who are tempted to ruin the show for everyone else.
Wasn't horrible! That is like... pretty good, right?
Simon also told one female contestant to "wear as little as possible" because she had no chance to win the competition based on her voice.
Sounds like something Larry C would say.
That really got the cynical part of me thinking. Is it possible he sang good enough to get on, and then has deliberately brought himself down in order to create a sensation? That is certainly the goal behind all the weird hairdos. Is this all a good publicity stunt? Has he managed to sneakily get Idol haters to vote for him, while winning others by appearing as the underdog and then Bam! he will suddenly start singing well and win the serious viewers too?
Isn't it amazing how much I know when I never even watch the show? It is definitely in the news too much.
Nae
Pretending to be worse than you really are would be a pretty big risk to take. He definitely has stood out though and thats what Idol is all about, right?
If he started getting "better" he could win it all. You would have to admire such a risky and clever gameplan.
I'd like to see the bald guy go, however. Good voice, but he's funny looking and has Chiclets for veneers. Yuck.
I also think Jordin is completely overrated. The last two weeks I haven't enjoyed her performance at all, but the judges have gushed about her. I don't get it.
I was going to say "wow, another person posting after quitting time," but then I realized that there's a three-hour time difference so I guess I'm the only one who's that pathetic.
Then again, it wouldn't be fair for me to be so super-cool ALL the time. I need to balance my nights in the college dorm with posting to online forums at 6:00 on a Friday night.
Will you?
Its true, though, I didnt care enough to vote for him. I hope he didnt lose by just one vote. I'd feel badly.
So who is the next worst?