Fox is thanking lucky stars for Sanjaya

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What might have been
Much was made of how long Sanjaya was going to last on the show. Many “Idol” staffers — Cowell, Jackson and Warwick, to name a few — logically reasoned that he couldn’t make it to the final two or three because the other contestants would have too much voting power behind them. When the vote is split among nine or 10 players, Vote for the Worst schemes can pay off. It doesn’t happen when 15 million people are all supporting someone else, though.

But, just for a moment, drift into a world where Sanjaya is standing on stage at the Kodak Theatre during the finale — with only Melinda Doolittle separating him from true greatness. Can you name one person who wouldn’t watch?

Talk about a ratings-grabber, that imaginary show might have even surpassed the final episode of “M*A*S*H” as the all-time most-watched show in TV history.

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Now, we’ll never have that opportunity to find out. Sanjaya is gone and music, not madness, will once again take center stage every Tuesday night.

It’s all probably for the best. Sanjaya had a glorious run and reminded us that maybe we all take “Idol” a bit too seriously. It is just a television show, people. There’s nothing better than this week’s tragedy at Virginia Tech to keep it all in perspective. Lives aren’t at stake. The sun will come up tomorrow whether Sanjaya performs next week or not.

And despite the boot, he’s probably going to be around for awhile.

As runners-up Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry constantly remind us, once you’re an “Idol” star, your fame goes way beyond how well you can sing.

Sanjaya, smarter than we give him credit for, learned that lesson a long time ago.

Stuart Levine is a senior editor at Variety. You can reach him at .

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