American Idol is still on and Anoop Desai is still in the running (top 7). The theme was disco week. Anoop Dogg sporting a moustache and pink shirt, reminiscent of Bollywood heroes of days yore (can’t figure out which one Anoop resembles), plays it safe and does a ballady number. Average performance, pitchy in spots. Because of a new rule, 2 people will be eliminated tonight on Idol instead of the customary 1. Will Anoop be one of those sent home? Something tells me Anoop Dogg’s time on Idol is …

Anoop Desai is a crooner, plain and simple. He seems at home with the slower ballad style numbers which allow him to stretch his vocal cords and display his repertoire. Anoop goes country and blows the audience and the judges away with his rendition of Elvis/Willie Nelson’s “Always on my mind”.

DialIdol predicts Anoop will make it to the top 10.

As we envisioned, our call centers have done their job. Anoop Desai survived, barely from what we read. [E!]
In their defense, some of our call center workers called 1-866-IDOLS-13 thinking they were voting for Anoop Dogg and instead got pre-occupied talking dirty to “nasty girl” for $3.99 a minute. Wait till their supervisor sees the phone bill. [Number Fiasco] (tip Runa)
So now what? For one, Anoop is in the top 11 contestants. From onsite reports, seems like Anoop Dogg is a fan favorite.
If you’re shocked that Anoop Desai didn’t get …

In Michael Jackson week, Anoop Desai took a big risk and went with the (pardon the pun) upbeat “Beat It”. His rendition of “Beat It” was ok, nothing special. Obviously he does not have Wacko’s moves and his voice seemed to lack the intensity at certain times. But the judges came down on him pretty hard.
Randy said he thought “It was very karaoke.”
Simon ripped him to shreds: “It was horrible. It was like a really, really bad impersonation.”
You decide for yourself if Anoop should move on to the next round …

He was among the last selected but it was well worth the suspense. [MTV]
This time, America didn’t vote, the judges did, and the wild-card round will see the return of such favorites as Matt Giraud, Megan Joy Corkrey, Anoop Desai and drama magnet Tatiana Del Toro.
Cowell left “one of the easiest decisions out of the eight” for last: Anoop Desai, whom he called original, likable and talented.
That’s right Anoop’s Doggs, he is back for one more crack at American Idol stardom.

Turns out America did not like Anoop Desai’s rendition of “Angel of mine” and Anoop was not in the top 3 contestants selected to the next round. A disappointing end after showing much promise? [Slimtainment Blog]
For Anoop’s fans a.k.a his doggs, there is still a chance he might make it back to the top 12 via a wildcard round, which considering how he was shaping up to be one of the favorites on Idol, is not beyond the realm of possibility.

So Anoop Desai made a pretty good showing on American idol last night. As one of the top 36 , he now depends on America to vote him through.  He sang an R&B song “Angel of Mine” which some of the judges *cough*Simon*cough* thought was not the right song choice. Anoop explained his choice by saying that this was the first R&B song he remembers hearing on the radio and when he sings its a way of saying “Thank You” to everyone who believes in him out there. Aw – …

Anoop Desai, a 21 year old student from UNC, appears to have made it to the next round of American Idol. [Post Chronicle]
Anoop Desai a.k.a Noop Doggimg: via Post Chronicle
Dressed in shorts and flip-flops Anoop told judge Randy he could call him “Noop Dogg”. Simon remarked that he looked like he had just come from a meeting with Bill Gates, not sure if it was the nerd look or the whole Indian-software engineer angle.
His singing performance was not half-bad either.
Anoop, who jokingly told Judge Randy Jackson to call him ‘Anoop …

It’s been nearly two years since this humble blog was one of the first to report on a phenomenon that took the nation by storm. [Original UD post]
Guess who’s back?img: via Amazon.com
Nearly two years after becoming the most (in)famous pop-culture icon of that year, Sanjaya Malakar is planning a comeback and we @ Über Desi are here like clockwork to report on it. [NBC] (tip Runa via email)

Sanjaya is planning a comeback not just on the music scene but also on the literary scene.
His book titled “Dancing to the Music …

It is a truth universally acknowledged by people in the know that when you get a bunch of immigrant desis from the length and breath of India into a single room, chaos will reign. Some would say its organized chaos, but nevertheless. Manish Acharya’s debut feature, Loins of Punjab, turns this organized chaos into a howl-arious laugh fest, thanks to an stellar ensemble cast.
Somewhere in the 29th state of India a.k.a New Jersey, the reigning king of pork loins in the North East decides the best form of advertisement for …

Rediff has a lengthy interview with Sanjaya, uncomfortable at times for the former American Idol finalist when he is grilled on his Indian-ness, otherwise pretty extensive. The feature also has plenty of photos of our male readers’ favorite, Shyamali, in an Indian sari. [Rediff] (tip Sai via email)

Remember our little blurb on Sanjaya starring in the Nationwide commercial. Apparently Sanjaya and Shyamali are in Mumbai for the filming of the commercial. Check out this pic and story on Rediff forwarded to me by at least two different sources. [Rediff] (tip Sai via email and Anantha via gtalk)
Shyamali swaps Hooters uniform for sariimg: via Rediff
Coming from at least three South Asian males, the decision is unanimous – we like the sari vary vary much.

The Nationwide commercials with the slogan “Life comes at you fast” which in the past have featured Favio, Kevin Federline and MC Hammer will now feature Sanjaya. [link]
The commercial will feature the former Idol finalist visiting a monastery in India to seek advice and is told to both work on his hair and arrange a retirement plan.
The spot is one of six new Nationwide commercials specifically targeted at the South Asian market.

Tony Yalda in a cameo as Sanjaya in “Meet the Spartans”, fauxhawk and all.

In more American Idol news, Mad magazine’s list of the ‘20 Dumbest People, Events & Things of 2007 features our Papaya. While half the world and all the call centers were against Sanjaya, I agreed with fellow bloggers, that he was a kid and the media was being too harsh towards him. The same goes for Mad.
According to the rediff article, this is what Mad has to say about Sanjaya.
We’re generally jealous of no-talents who make millions of dollars. But not so with the king of no-talents, Simon Cowell. Cowell …

Although I am not a fan of American Idol, Santosh, looking for stories turned into one. Well that and our readers seem to have a thing for Desis on AI.
I say this because Chickpea, sent us a tip about a ‘Greasy’ Indian kid called Udi Sampat and I had to go searching.
According to USA Today
Udi Sampat, who dances like MC Hammer to motivate fellow workers and sings My Way to motivate viewers to run to the refrigerator. But at least he “can accept constructive criticism,” by his own admission.
AJC.com took …

Rejoice Fanjayas for on the horizon is the debut album from the Idol we affectionately refer to as Papaya. Quoting the man himself: “See, it’s going to be an R&B-rooted vocal style, but I want to integrate jazz emotion and rock energy and world beats, world sounds, So it sounds kind of schizophrenic, but I’d marry them in a comfortable way. I’m confident it will sound good.” [link]

T’was a cold night 6 months ago when UberDesi unearthed Sanjaya Malakar. As Sanjaya crooned his way through the consciousness of mainstream America, UberDesi stood by him to the bitter end …….. and the aftermath. UberDesi was with Sanjaya on every step of his captivating journey and we even fought the Sanjay-call center nexus allegations.
But all this seems to have been in vain. We have in our possession shocking footage (tip: Karthik via GTalk) that reveals call centers were indeed voting for Sanjaya Malakar. Every Tuesday night as Sanjaya belted …

It was only a matter of time before India decided to branch off with its own reality show. After finding success replicating shows like Who wants to be a millionaire, American Idol and Big Brother for India, Sahara TV has managed to find a new theme: Bathroom singers. And here is their website.

Bathroom Singer will be aired on the Sahara Film channel at the end of August. Already thousands of aspiring singers have applied to star in it.

Sanjaya with supermodel, Petra Nemcova seems to be doing well after American Idolimg: via Rediff
America may have voted Sanjaya off American Idol but his assault on America’s consiousness continues unabated with a vengance. Sanjaya, who counts Britney Spears (tip Anantha via Uber Stories) amongst his fans, a.k.a Fanjayas, besides appearing on Jay Leno, is also scheduled to appear on talk shows with Letterman, Regis and Kelly and Ellen Degeneres.
Our very own Papaya, also made it Washington D.C. this weekend to attend a White House Correspondents dinner (tip Sai via GTalk) …