Not yet mainstream, no more on the margin

Sanjaya Malakar was voted out of the television show American Idol. But before that, he won more than his fair share of media hype. What set him apart? His hair or his Indian-ness? America8217;s mounting interest in India or India8217;s growing sure-footedness on the world stage?

So it finally happened. The axe has fallen on Sanjaya Malakar, the Indian-Italian contestant on the hugely popular show, American Idol. The 17-year old with the big hair who managed to coast 8212; undeservedly, according to most 8212; through umpteen rounds of the harshly competitive talent show bowed out this week with tears and a defiant piece of ad libbing: 8220;let8217;s give them something to talk about 8212; other than hair8221;. A curious ending to one of the most baffling phenomena of popular culture in recent times.

For several weeks now, the Sanjaya phenomenon has had observers scratching their heads for an explanation. Many theories have been proffered including the backing of the Indian community, overseas Indians voting through call centres, Howard Stern the irreverent radio jockey, a website that encouraged viewers to 8216;vote for the worst8217; and swooning pre-teen girls. While all were discounted as unlikely to have swung the results or, in the case of call centres as simply untrue, the myth grew. Respectable newspapers such as the LA Times pondered over it; Hillary Clinton was asked for her opinion and celebrities as dissimilar as Jennifer Lopez and speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi confessed to a fondness for the cute kid with the spaniel eyes.

The new explanation that is gaining ground is that Sanjaya did well on American Idol because he was the 8216;most interesting thing8217; on the show. An article on the show8217;s website claims that he was 8216;more remarkable than the cardboard cutouts alongside8217;. This may well be true. Well into its sixth season, the talent show has begun to seem jaded. The current crop of contestants, though talented, seem like professionals, showing little transformation robbing the show of its most dramatic element. Sanjaya, with his unusual looks and mannerisms was the surprise package.

Now where have we heard this before? Wasn8217;t a similar explanation given for inducting Shilpa Shetty into the Big Brother house in the UK? And didn8217;t that particular event also spark off a huge brouhaha, albeit over the serious issue of racism? Is it a mere coincidence? Or is there more to the story than meets the eye?

Regular viewers of American Idol will be familiar with the mechanics of the competition. Three judges, including an acid-tongued Britisher, set the standards while the public gets to vote for their favourites. With thirty million votes coming in, the show can lay claim to being an almost parallel democratic process. And to a large extent there is a sense of equal opportunity: fat, thin, white, coloured, rich, poor, pretty, nerdy 8212; past frontrunners have included all these. The year President George Bush was re-elected, the winner on American Idol was an African-American unwed mother called Fantasia Barrino.

Underneath the patina of equality however, the tensions simmer. They surface in subtle ways, in comments about a contestant8217;s dress sense, for instance, or the fact that a representative of a small ethnic minority 8212; if s/he were to make it past the auditions 8212; would seem unlikely to win. A professor of economics in Arkansas studied the results and concluded that voters were likely to prefer contestants of their own race.

Against this backdrop, the Sanjaya trajectory comes across as unusual. To begin with, it is significant that the singer was consistently cast as 8216;Indian8217; even though he is part Italian-American. His knowledge of classical music and his affection for his sister 8212; who lost out in the early rounds of the competition 8212; seemed to sustain the notion of heritage and family values while other facts put out about him 8212; such as the fact that he sang in a gospel choir and had grown up in America 8212; made him appear to be a well behaved and well integrated teenager. In a matter of days, as his performance dropped, however, all these qualities were of no avail. Judges dismissed him summarily, the likes of Stern and Votefortheworst.com adopted him. From respectable citizen he became the funny odd guy 8212; a Peter Sellers with hair.

Story continues below this ad

Along with the old prejudices came the new fears, the fear of call centres which was a big issue in the last elections with Americans fearing a loss of jobs to India. And though the notion of pre teen girls swooning over him seemed to pit him into the mainstream of American society, the open condemnation of the judges on the show 8212; one even threatened to quit if Sanjaya won 8212; put him on the margins again. A news item claimed moreover that he was booed loudly by the crowd at a baseball game when his face appeared on screen. And then, when he seemed isolated and alone, he was adopted, like one would adopt a wet stray, by pop singers and politicians, the representatives of the majority.

His run is finally over. In the days to come it is more than likely that Sanjaya will be fodder for the chat shows. His carefully cultivated image of defiance will probably be exploited by media movers and it is even likely that he will find stardom like Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson, one of American Idol8217;s ousted contestants. For Indians in India, Sanjaya8217;s story set in the milieu of American pop, may be a bit hard to relate to. But this may be a story not just of a young man seeking fame but a story of the West trying to come to terms with India.