Posted on 04/17/2007 2:48:10 PM PDT by voletti
Initially I thought Indian Americans are mobilizing as armies of Fanjayas, voting in large numbers to keep the 17-year-old on the show.
After all, most other barriers had been broken by the community. They were on Wall Street and on main street, in political parties and Silicon Valley, in government and in management, in hotels and motels, in medicine and in space. They were writers, analysts, advisers and policy makers. Perhaps the one last hurdle was for an Indian American to become a pop icon. When they saw Sanjaya, they felt he had a shot.
But as weeks went by and Sanjaya didn’t, I rejected my theory. Even if all of the two million Indian Americans voted, he wouldn’t make it unless others were voting for him too. Radio host and shock jock Howard Stern’s ploy of subverting American Idol by encouraging his listeners to "vote for the worst" may have mobilized many votes. But after a day of reading blogs, comments and articles on Sanjaya, I don’t think even that is reason enough for his continued presence among the finalists.
(Excerpt) Read more at outlookindia.com ...
Anyone wanna bet he’ll make it to the last 6 tonite?
FYI.interesting...
Meanwhile, Dell customers are reporting longer wait times when calling customer assistance the same nights American Idol airs.
Do you really believe that?
IIRC, Idol voting is done mostly by text messaging in. Dunno if voice calls from India would help.
But hey, if the Indians want this that bad, who knows? Somehow I doubt that though. The few folk I know in India haven’t heard anything about this guy.
I see we have a new “object” on which to focus..(G)...BTW..tonight on AI is country...too bad Haley couldn’t have lasted one more week..can you just imagine “legs” in short shorts AND red cowboy boots...
And Sanjaya will be singing "Man, I Feel Like a Woman".
Actually, I was thinking more “I enjoy being a girl”
Only one I’ll vote for is silent_jonny...but I do think Jordin wins it..
Jordin should win it, but don’t count Sanjaya out. His fan base is young, huge, buys a lot of music, and votes early and often.
Which indeed makes me feel middle aged for the first time ever..(sigh)
You’ll get over it, ken5050. Just buy a Nehru jacket and go with the flow.
In an isolating culture where television is often the solace, Sanjaya is the gentle doctor.
Oh, I needed a good laugh!! LOL
Cheryl Burke is a babe to the highest order!
I heard a very funny parody on a local radio station the other morning. Imagine the voice of Apu from The Simpsons, it went something like this:
Hello,
If you would very much like your account balance, please press 1
If you need to make a payment on your account and I am in hope you do, please press 2
If you are stupid and are in very much need of technical support, please press 3
If you want to cast a vote for Sanjaya, please press 4
LOL. Thanks.
India making the call on Sanjaya? Not a chance!
Reedy ‘Idol’ contestant a virtual unknown in his father’s homeland
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17964405/
NEW DELHI - So much for the Indian Call Center Theory: Under-talented singer Sanjaya Malakar’s unlikely wave of “American Idol” support apparently isn’t coming from his father’s homeland.
Indians are usually attuned to the successes of their compatriots abroad. But apart from a few brief newspaper articles, at least one short TV news segment and a few blog mentions, the reedy 17-year-old with the unsteady voice is a virtual unknown here.
One reason is that the show is broadcast a day late in India, and on an English-language channel that attracts relatively few viewers in this country of 1.1 billion.
“He’s also an object of ridicule,” said Amit Varma, who runs the popular India Uncut blog.
Malakar’s success with viewers, who vote by phone or text message for their favorite performers, has come despite withering criticism from the three “Idol” judges. The irascible Simon Cowell has even threatened to quit if the native of Federal Way, Wash., wins the contest.
Malakar survived elimination on Wednesday night to make it to the final eight. If he can hold on for a few more weeks, he might see his fame spread here, Varma said.
“Even if the guy’s really an American, it will be projected by the media here as an Indian doing well in the world,” he said. “They’ll make a big deal about it.”
As for the theory that Indian call center operators are phoning in votes for Malakar: Most workers have calls automatically dialed for them by computers. They couldn’t even call next door if they wanted to.
Not so much a theory as it was a joke. Frankly I DGARA about idol and lampoon it as often as possible.
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