Sanjaya Malakar's Life After Idol

Sanjaya Malakar may not have been crowned an American Idol, but he certainly has a bright future ahead of him.

Sanjaya Malakar arriving at Late Night With David Letterman.

Sanjaya Malakar seemed an unlikely candidate for the American Idol finals. While he made it through auditions to the Hollywood boot camp, once he arrived on the Idol stage it was an upward battle for the quiet singer. Week after week, blog and entertainment writers predicted Sanjaya's demise, but he continued to remain on the show.

After a longer ride than anyone could have predicted, Sanjaya was voted off American Idol on April 18, 2007. He had succeeded in being among the final seven contestants competing for the coveted top spot. The exposure Sanjaya received while on the program made him a household name – discussions about his talent (or lack of) and ever-changing hairstyles made headlines every week.

One of Sanjaya's fans shows her support for Idol castoff.

As Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson can attest, being booted from American Idol certainly isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. While other Idol castoffs have not achieved Hudson's level of success – and many have completely faded out of the spotlight – it looks like Sanjaya Malakar isn't going anywhere too soon. After his elimination, he was immediately contacted for guest appearances, including:

• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Live with Regis and Kelly
• Late Night With David Letterman (where he had the honor of reading the Top 10 list)
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Sanjaya has remarked that he is "more than a musician" and hopes to explore acting and modeling opportunities. His final performance on American Idol was definitely not the last the world has seen of Sanjaya.

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