Rupert Murdoch will miss Sanjaya Malakar

Posted Apr 19th 2007 9:15AM by Jonathan Berr
Filed under: Television, Marketing and Advertising, News Corp'B' (NWS)

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch probably was the no. 1 fan of the most hapless "American Idol" contest in history Sanjaya Malakar ,whose time on the top-rated show mercifully came to an end last night.

Love him or hate him, Malakar made this season interesting. Otherwise, people would have grown tired of dishing out superlatives to Melinda Doolittle, who is the best singer in the competition's history, or trying to figure out half the things said by judge Paula Abdul.

Dave Della Terza, the creator of the snarky Vote for the Worst Web site that "championed" Malakar along with shock jock Howard Stern, aptly described "American Idol" as a "carefully crafted reality show."

When the 17-year-old Malakar walked into the audition room, the producers knew exactly what they were getting. Even as Malakar sung his heart out badly, his goofy earnestness somehow made him likeable. In other words, he was pure television gold.

The best part of the Sanjaya affair was watching how helpless the judges were to stop it.

Even the loquacious Simon Cowell, who threatened to quit if Malakar won, was left speechless. After he butchered Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About" earlier this week, Cowell looked like he was about to have a stroke. When he pointed out hat Malakar's performance was as bad as anything he'd seen in show's auditions, America finally got the hint and voted Malakar out. The voting for that show was a record.

But people shouldn't shed any tears for Sanjaya, a name will be trademarked soon and splashed over teen magazines around the world. He's going to have the last laugh.

Malakar will be able to ride his time as a pop culture punchline to wealth and fame. There will be record deals, movie offers and endorsement offers galore coming his way. Plus, he's going to tour with the other Idol finalists.

That's right, Sanjaya Malakar is coming to a town near you.

Stock up on ear plugs before they run out.

Tags: AMerican Idol, AmericanIdol, fox television, FoxTelevision, nws, rupert murdoch, RupertMurdoch, sanjaya malakar, SanjayaMalakar, vote for the worst, VoteForTheWorst

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-22-2007 @ 9:29PM

Debra Luther said...

In the beginning I didn't like Sanjaya but as time went on I thought he was much better and enjoyed watching him perform. If he comes to my hometown of Dothan Alabama, I will certainly go hear him.