American Idol: Sanjaya Sayonara Part 3
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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.