American Idol: Sanjaya Sayonara Part 3

Just off the post-results conference call.  Each week the newly eliminated contestant is put on the phone for half an hour with, it sounds like, about a billion reporters from every corner of the globe who are allowed, if chosen to ask one question and one follow up each.

It was a humbled Sanjaya who stepped out of the "Idol" bubble and faced the press corps today. Or more to the point, the call had the semi-pathetique tone of a very young kid squirming under questioning from a bunch of big serious adults. 

More signficantly, Sanjaya - in this call at least - unequivocally - distanced himself from an anti-hero status - claiming he was in the competition to win (although he realized he probably wouldn't) and was just trying his hardest to let his personality shine.  Sanjaya poo-poo'ed  his leading cheerleaders  saying, "I don't think votefortheworst or Howard Stern had enough people voting for me to make a dent in anything.  I think the reason why I'm here is the support of my fans."

Some other highlights from the call:

He saw the angel of death heading his way: "When I saw the show on Tuesday I kinda had a feeling. And then I was kinda in the dumps all day Wednesday…I kinda knew."

He never felt animosity from the other contestants: "Not at all, everyone is a family.  That was the hardest part of leaving, leaving the extended part of my family."

He was never trying to give the show the finger: "My philopsophy was to stay true to myself and try to put my personality out there."
(Of course, what else would a mischievious teenager say when called into the principal's office?)

He did read the blogs and web coverage, but not for the reasons you think: "I read the blogs more to balance myself because it was kinda impossible not to hear stuff and a lot of the time it was negative, so I read blogs to try and balance the positive and negative."

The thinking behind his hair: "At a certian point that had sorta become my thing.  Everyone looks for something to grab onto with each contestant, that was my back atcha."

Plans now: "I'm looking at a music career but also want to venture into acting and modeling and possibly Broadway."

Simon's hostility?: "From the beginning I think Simon had hopes for me and when I didn’t fill that potential, he was disappointed. He's an amazing person and what he does is awesome but I learned more from him than anyone else in the competetion."

When did he realize America had entered the Sanjaya Universe?: "I think it kind of trickled in.  It's been kinda surreal for me.  We truly are in a bubble, we don’t have the slightest idea of the capacity of the show.  I got an inkling everyonce in a while of something diferent. Something going on, I guess a cultural phenomeon."

So there you have it. The first public words from the eye of the hurricane.  Stay tuned to this space for all breaking developments on this historic day.

Comments

[Kathleen Salvaty]

I know I'm in the minority here, but I will miss Sanjaya. His poor singing was pretty much beside the point. He didn't show it this week, but on his best nights he had something almost ... punk rock about him. When he wore his 'mohawk,' Sanjaya reminded me of Sid Vicious. Neither had any musical talent to speak of. Like Sanjaya, Sid didn't care what the establishment said about him. Both of them seemed like they came from a different planet. And at times, I wondered whether Sanjaya would implode from the pressure, just as Sid Vicious imploded.

Whatever you say about Sanjaya, you cannot say he was mediocre. Unfortunately, that is how I would describe several of the remaining contestants.

[Gerry Saunders]

I am sad to see Sanjaya gone . I was on vacation and didn't get to see the program last week or last night. I was surprised to see him not on stage. He gave it his all every week and was an entertainer. I hope something good comes out of this.