You know you’ve made it when “Saturday Night Live” makes a spoof of you and David Letterman invites you to read his now-famous Top 10 list on his show. That is the case with 17-year-old “entertainer” Sanjaya Malakar. And by “made it,” I mean that his 15 minutes of fame are being recognized by the late-night circuit.
But apparently I was the only person who wasn’t watching. Last Tuesday, while I was at a taping of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to check out the Silversun Pickups, jokes about the guy with the wacky haircuts were coming out of Kimmel like spitballs in a middle school cafeteria. When I opened the Los Angeles Times calendar section on Friday, there was a spread about the guy. This guy is getting so much attention, so I went to do my own Sanjaya research. And what did I find out? The guy is a 17-year-old singer who made his way through a famous karaoke show, I mean, “American Idol,” and got the boot after being able to stay in the show despite his lack of talent.
I don’t know what makes me sicker: the fact that an apparently talentless wreck has managed to collect legions of fans while talented bands like the Silversun Pickups didn’t manage to fill Jimmy Kimmel’s parking lot, or the fact that people actually watch that crap.
It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world comes up with Indian Idol, Chinese Idol and Latin American Idol. Oh, wait a minute -they already did. In other matters that have not happened this week, Kaleidoscope 2007 is taking place this Saturday, April 28, and in the wise words of OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano, I’ll shamelessly want to plug my participation in such event. Come by the EOP Student Organization booth, and for a small fee, get your caricature drawn by yours truly.
– Julio Salgado
