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.
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