Indian American Sanjaya Malakar has reached the top seven stage in the popular American TV show American Idol. The hugely controversial Sanjaya has become the most talked about contestant in the sixth edition of the popular Television show where the nationwide audience votes the winner of the contest. A lot of media attention has been focused on Sanjaya as his critics, that include the shows three judges have long been deriding his vocal chords. Despite the openly critical reviews, Sanjaya has gone from strength to strength. Adding fuel to the controversy fire has been the controversial talk show host Howard Stern announcing a campaign to his listeners to vote for Sanjaya simply to ridicule the program.
Malakar was born in the Seattle, Washington region of the US to a Bengali father and an Italian American mother. He comes from a musical family, his father being a classical Indian musician. His 19-year-old sister Shyamali also contested in this year’s program. She was however voted out in one of the earlier rounds. The coming weeks will decide if an Indian American will become an American Idol.
