There are plenty of reasons to defend Sanjaya

Malakar suffers from what every teenage male on the show has always suffered from; he’s a boy among men, and his voice isn’t as developed as his rivals. There’s nothing he can do about that, unless one of his fans invents an aging machine over the next few days. But that’s the worst thing his critics can say about him; if he doesn’t do much to inspire raves, he also doesn’t sing poorly enough to risk being pelted by rotten tomatoes.

Ultimately, Sanjaya is an adequate singer in a field that lacks depth. Sure, he’s nowhere close to the best singer out there, but Melinda Doolittle is so far ahead of the pack in that regard that seven of the eight remaining contestants are in the same boat. Even including fellow teen Jordin Sparks and LaKisha Jones as strong contenders, and throwing in Blake Lewis as the strongest of the men, that leaves four candidates remaining with little chance of winning; Malakar, Phil Stacey, Haley Scarnato and Chris Richardson.

Is Malakar really that much worse than the other three? Is his future in the pop music industry worse than Stacey’s, or Scarnato’s? Probably not, but he’s the one who has inspired the derision.

But ultimately, the dirty little secret of the show is:

Even if Sanjaya wins, who cares?
“American Idol” is in business for two things; building ratings and discovering and creating pop stars. It’s the king of the former, and the Sanjaya story is only adding to that. What better reason to watch each week than to see how the latest pop-culture prince will fare?

The odds of him winning are infinitesimal. Every year, a candidate or two lasts much longer than expected, fueling the annual “what happens if [that year’s fall guy] actually wins” stories. Every year, that candidate eventually gets sent packing. Anyone remember season four’s Scott Savol? Or season three’s John Stevens?

But say this year is different, and Sanjaya shocks the world and wins it all. What happens?

The answer is that not many people will remember that in a couple of years, and “Idol” won’t be reminding its viewers either. Quick, who won the second season of the show, Clay Aiken or Ruben Studdard? Who won last year, Taylor Hicks or Chris Daughtry? In both cases, the also-rans have had a larger profile, both on the show and off, than the winners.

That’s because “Idol” is all about pop success. If Melinda Doolittle comes in second and Jordin Sparks third, but both have debut albums that leave the winner’s in the dust, they’ll be the ones pointed to as examples of the show’s success. Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson got voted off  season three’s competition before several rivals who fell off the pop landscape soon afterwards — but nobody remembers that she came in seventh. All anyone knows is that she was on the show.

The sixth season of “Idol” will be a disappointment if all of its finalists strike out in the music business, but that’s unlikely to happen. Doolittle, Sparks, Jones or someone else will sell enough to carry the banner for this year’s crew, and the successful ones will be the performers remembered.

In the meantime Sanjaya Malakar’s ascendancy only helps. It’s the sixth season of a glorified talent show that doesn’t change much from year to year, but the ratings dominance has continued because there’s always a reason to watch. Though he isn’t among the most talented singers, Sanjaya is certainly one of those reasons, which is probably what the show was hoping for in the first place. “American Idol” producers can be accused of many things, but stupidity isn’t among them.

Sanjaya Malakar is being talked about as though his survival on the program is the worst thing that could ever happen to “American Idol.” In fact, it’s one of the best.

Craig Berman is a writer in Washington, D.C.

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