Sanjaya Malakar Says 'Idol' Viewers Saw the Real Jennifer Lopez

By Rob Shuter Posted Feb 25th 2011 01:01PM

Sanjaya Malakar made quite a splash during season six of 'American Idol' with those wild hair styles, his photogenic sister and of course his controversial seventh place finish, despite a weekly thwacking by then-judge Simon Cowell. Now 21, the pop singer and off-Broadway star sat down with PopEater to give his take on this week's big story: the cutting of Chris Medina and Jennifer Lopez's teary-eyed reaction to it.

"I can't imagine how hard it must be" now that the judges are getting invested in the performers, he tells us. "You see them, and you're paying attention to them and their story and how they're progressing each week. I'm sure it's really hard to cut someone that you like. Especially someone with a story like that."

Lopez's raw and surprising show of emotion on Wednesday night really caught America off guard, but Malakar thinks that this was the true J.Lo people were witnessing and not some act to draw in more support.

"I think it shows a really honest perspective of her," he said. "She was one of my mentors on my season, and she was such a sweetheart. She wanted to sit on the floor," instead of insisting we get a seat. "It was really cool."

As "honest" as J.Lo was during the aftermath of firing Medina, Malakar admits that the judges are certainly trying to get a reaction from the contestants.

"For one, they definitely are looking for that shock value. They wanna say the thing that will make you cry to try and get that reaction. But for me it was more about, what are they saying that will help me get better."

He also said he doesn't know how he would have fared if he had auditioned this year with the new judges.

"It's a great new perspective, because before it was the performer, the producer and the executive," referring to Paula, Randy and Simon, "and now it's more performer heavy, and if I had gone in and auditioned for Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez I would have freaked."

Check back next week for Part 2 of our chat with Sanjaya Malakar, where he talks all about his transition to the stage in the off-Broadway show, 'Freckleface Strawberry.' Get Tix!

Tags: American Idol, Freckleface Strawberry, jennifer Lopez, Sanjaya Malakar

Comments

(10)

Friday 25 February

By maria abraham

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I have had a run in with J. Lo myself and she was very very nasty .
I wish I could report differently.
It was disapointing.

By gregg

lets be honest, who cares who are. i would side with JLO, even if it's her fault

By Mike

I've heard that as well. As far as nasty goes, no one is nastier than (ugly) Sarah Jessica Parker and (fat) Matthew Broderick! Horrible, horrible people! (And I used to like them!) Have also met Jessica Simpson who is more gorgeous in person and most gracious!

Saturday 26 February

By aqing9

As "honest" as J.Lo was during the aftermath of firing Medina, Malakar admits that the judges are certainly trying to get a reaction from the contestants.I love reading this , So does My boyfriend .he is almost 11year older than me .i met him via agelessc'upid.c'om a nice place for seeking age le ss love.which gives you a chance to make your life better and open opportunities for you to meet the attractive young girls and treat you like a king. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends..

By Jennifer

Oh, Sanjaya, you're still a cutie . . . . . . ..

By tony

him and her both are flaky.

By simpsonsimpmike

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Always thought Sanjaya had a cool name and a likeable personality. To bad he had zero talent.

By Kat2988

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the guy cannot even sing and he knows nothing about the diva so who cares what he thinks.

By Karma

Did you see the snotty way she treated her husband when they were both presenting an award at the Golden Globes? My diva radar went off. I thought, "He's whipped."

By beijingbei123

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