I don’t know if that is right, but that is why I mostly feel like I do.

Also, I like how he unique. I think he is a good enough singer, and I heard from a person who has the same vocal coach as him that he can even be better.

In the end the show was called “American Idol”. Being an idol means more than being a good singer (which I think he is at least as good as most who are considered pop stars today). It takes the X factor. It takes the almost undefinable quality of charisma which I believe Sanjaya has in spades.

I really believe that Sanjyaya could be the next Michael Jackson. Now, I know such a statement could be taken wrong, so let me clarify. I mean the 1980s’ Michael Jackson when he was putting out hits like Billy Jean and Thriller. I mean before Michael Jackson became Wacko Jacko.

Is Sanjaya really that worst than others who are considered “Pop Stars”? I think not. I quite liked his singing and thought it was unfortunate that he was kicked off American Idol after participating in a genre that really didn’t suit him (Country Western). He is Pop. He is about Teeny Boppers, but there is nothing wrong with that.

But of course my comments are admittedly biased by the fact that he is from my hometown. He (along with Apolo Ohno) helps to give identity to a community sorely lacking any.

If we are looking at it on racial terms I guess fellow Desi Males can take pride in one of their own being able to nab such a catch.

By the way, the people at the mall who came to see him, they were all of different races so I believe that proves that race doesn’t drive the Sanjaya phenomena. The majority of them were though Teenage Girls which of course is to be expected.

And it borders part of North Tacoma but to get to the city center of Tacoma, it takes about 30 minutes or so.

What would people think of me saying that I want a candidate to win because he is white? What would people call me if I supported a contestant because he reflected my ethnic background?

That said. I really like Sanjaya because he comes from the town I have lived over 30 years in.

Well calling it a town in some ways gives it too much credit. It’s suburbia. It borders the city of Tacoma, Washington and is about an hour (depending on traffic) north of the city of Seattle, Washington, but nothing really distinguishes it much. The history of the place doesn’t reach much beyond the 1950s. Before that sure there were farms and some businesses but not many, and few of those are still standing. If you look very hard you can find out some of its history before then, but that knowledge is fading. Named for the School District that was named for the High School which was named for a local road, searching for an identity for Federal Way is difficult indeed.

It is a place where the idea of the “cookie cutter” house plays out. Not only houses but in recent years (say since 1989) apartments. The truth is it is a community where new people are coming in and out constantly. It has a mall, and a few good parks but that is just about it.

I love Federal Way, for the friendships I have built there, but the truth is that there are only but a few things that really distinguishes it from say Sumner, Normandy Park, Auburn, Kent, or the dozen of other suburban cities no one except those familiar with our region would have heard of. And truthfully that is how mostof us who live here see ourselves as – part of a region not just a town. We might live in Federal Way, but many of us work in another city. Most of us don’t really identify with Federal Way as people in say a small town or a mayor city would. For most of us suburbia is just suburbia, and Federal Way is just a place we go to sleep at night.

Well, I have seemed to have gone far past the point of rambling but the point is that here is Sanajaya who like myself, live in a fundamentally undistinquished city among the cookie cutter homes and apartments and businesses that look like those in other communities in the area, but he was able to rise above the monotony of such a place and distinquish himself. Like him or don’t, but still few can say that he isn’t unique.

It’s the uniqueness of Sanjaya that I believe attracted so many people to his side.

And it was so easy for him to disown Federal Way, as many do when in the few cases they find national (and some cases international) renown. But Sanjaya didn’t even though he had only lived in the community for about a year.

The Desi community in Federal Way has in recent years become quite noticable (especially in the apartments) and I am glad to see that they are finding success, but most of all I am glad to see anyone coming from my little piece of suburbia rising above its monotony to find international acclaim.

So, perhaps it is wrong to support Sanjiya because he is from my hometown but I believe that is far different than supporting him because of his race. His success doesn’t merely encourage a particular segment of my community but encourages all in my community to break free from the “cookie cutter” and aspire to something that may be considered better or even worst by others, but at the very least something unique. And while conformity might be the state of most individuals, it’s unqiueness that breeds innovation.