Sanjaya Joseph Malakar (created September 10, 1989) is an American singer, who had been a finalist on the sixth season of “American Idol”. He got national interest on the series, controversially progressing to 7th spot with public votes, despite being ill received by the show’s judges, especially Simon Cowell.
After “Idol”, Malakar made many television guest appearances and has been generally parodied in popular culture. He got to 5th spot in season two of the reality television show “I am a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!”. His dad, a musician, is a Bengali Indian named Vasudeva Malakar, who immigrated to America, and his mom is an Italian American named Jillian Recchi Blyth. His parents filed for divorce when he was three years of age and have been split for a year before doing so. When the divorce was filed, the family had virtually no cash coming in. His mom remarried, but his stepfather died shortly after. Although Malakar spent the bulk of his formative years in the Seattle region, he’s also lived in both California and Kauai, Hawaii, where he performed with the Hawaii Children’s Theatre group. While in Seattle, he spent three years using the Total Experience Gospel Choir. After his sophomore year, Malakar passed the General Educational Development test, to be able to leave high school early and focus on a music career as well as on his involvement in American Idol. Malakar works at Percy’s Tavern in Nyc.
Jillian Blyth, Vasudeva Malakar, A Guy Like Me, A Quintessential Lullaby, Tell Me Who I Am
Siblings
Shyamali Malakar
Nicknames
Sanjaya Shekar Malakar
Awards
Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Male Reality Star
Albums
Dancing to the Music in My Head
Nominations
Teen Choice Award for Choice OMG! Moment
TV Shows
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
Star Sign
Virgo
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Trademark
1
Pony-hawk
2
Beautiful dark, wavy hair
3
Hula Dancer
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Fact
1
Lived in Berkeley, California during the late 90s.
2
His favorite song he sang on American Idol was Besame Mucho.
3
Moved to Federal Way, Washington in 2005.
4
He was born in Bothell, Washington in Snohomish County. After his parent's divorce he moved to Kapaa, Hawaii for four years (1996-2000).
5
Made it to the top seven on American Idol.
6
He has a sister Shyamali Malakar who tried out with him for American Idol. Sadly, she was kicked out during Hollywood Week.
7
He took his GED after his sophomore year in High School.
8
Parents divorced when he was only three.
9
He is a Stevie Wonder fan.
10
His father is a classical musician.
11
The ring Sanjaya wears is his late grandfather's. He died when Sanjaya was five, so Sanjaya wears the ring to have confidence and support from a higher place.
12
His father is a Bengali Indian immigrant, born in Vrindavan, India, and his mother is American-born. Sanjaya's maternal grandfather was of Italian descent and Sanjaya's maternal grandmother was born in Utah, of Dutch, Irish, and English origin.
$300 Thousand
