IDOL BACKSTAGE: Sanjaya's world (beat) plans
Now I’m not a Fanjaya just yet, but after talking to Sanjaya Malakar in person, his appeal becomes immediately clear.
He’s a sweet, soft-spoken 17-year-old who got caught up in a bizarre publicity whirlwind and rode it out with style and grace and nary a hair on his pony-hawked head out of place. After the tour wraps up, he plans to move to Los Angeles and work on his debut album, which he hopes will be released next year. He said he has some offers to consider, but no deal in place yet, though he does plan to work with his sister on writing for the album.
So what’s the album going to sound like?
“Um, I don’t like to say because it sounds like I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I really do,” he says, laughing, backstage at Nassau Coliseum. “It’s going to be R&B based, with kind of jazz emotion and rock energy and world fusion. I don’t know if that makes sense.”
“I’ve always known that I didn’t want to do one straight genre, because if I’m going to express myself through music, I want to express everything about myself and I’m kind of complicated,” he adds. “I’m Indian so I want to incorporate that sound and influence with African and Middle Eastern and all kinds of different sounds.”
He says he’s been listening to a lot of French rap and is looking forward to the new Manu Chao album “La Radiolina” (which is due out next week and actually went up on MTV’s The Leak this morning).
Sanjaya says he knows his race and his Indian background was a factor in his controversially lengthy stay on the show, but he’s fine with taking the bad with the good. “I think that I’m different and I don’t think that there’s necessarily been anyone like me, so I think that I might have been passed over because I would’ve just been another face in the crowd,” he says. “I’m grateful to be different.”
The "American Idols Live" tour continues at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford tonight and tomorrow night. PHOTO: Fox
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Comments (4)
Him?Another face in the crowd ? Hah ! Love to own that crowd !! And , come on over to Fanjayadom . We are pretty cool and He is pretty awesome !!!
Sanjaya was cute from the start. Most people think that Sanjaya has no talent to sing or dance. All of the Sanjaya fans loved Sanjaya from start to finish and will still forever love Sanjaya for the person he is and the talents that Sanjaya has had in life. The first time that Sanjaya e-mailed me I was jumping up and down because I now knew a former American Idol contestanant I will forever love Sanjaya and be one of the Sanjaya fans to get the Sanjaya cd album.
Sanjaya has so much talent that Simon didn't see like I did. Sanjaya Got me in love with him the first day that he tried out for American Idol season 6. Everyday I hope that Sanjaya is O.K. because i love him so much and care for him. Sanjaya means so much to me that I didn't want to try out for AMerican Idol. But, When I saw Sanjaya I got the guts to try out for American Idol when I turn 17 years old!
People think that Sanjaya is a waste of time. But, to me Sanjaya is worth all the time in the world to me!
HEY ALL FANJAYAS OUT THERE DON'T FORGET ON SEPTEMBER 10 WISH SANJAYA A HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECAUSE HE WILL BE 19 THIS YEAR!!!! WE ALL LOVE SANJAYA AND WE ARE MALACRAZY FANJAYAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!