Game Show NewsNet - Block Party with Jason Block

Sanjaya For Idol! - March 27

This is the Block Party, and I am having a moment. Yes, this column may be a bit off the deep end and to all the people who read this I will come back to my senses somewhat after a bit of a rant so hear me out.

I want Sanjaya Malakar to win American Idol. Yup, you heard me right.

Now I know what you all are thinking...he’s lost it, he’s nuts. He’s joined votefortheworst.com or something like that. No, I am saying that because I want to prove that the American people can actually vote a no-talent in there.

It has happened in Britain. On the second season of Pop Idol in 2003, Michelle McManus won the show despite not having the talent to win it. Her recording career has been less than successful at best.

So what does that have to do with this season of AI? Every year there has been at least one person who is so far and away the worst of the bunch. Kevin Covais, Scott Savol and others have been so horrifically bad and have gotten away with it to different degrees.

Now, Gordon has his Chaos Theory (TM), and he is usually on the money. And he always asks this question...did X (in this case Brandon Rogers and Stephanie Edwards) have a legitimate shot to win American Idol...?

But that isn’t the question that should be asked. The question that should be is that...has American Idol gone so far away from the roots of Season 1 that the balance has shifted from singing talent to performance? Are we taking away spots from legitimate talents when you have people like Sanjaya staying on?

I said in my Idol column two weeks ago, that this is the weakest class since Idol 3. A lot of people agree with me. But when you have people like Sanjaya staying on, it makes for a bad entertainment experience.

But you know what, I want Sanjaya to win it all. Substance over talent, style over singing. Prove me right, America. Prove to me that you have no judge of talent at all. Prove to me that you can eliminate Melinda Doolittle over him. Prove to me that the 12-17 year old female market is what conquers all.

You can do it...I know you can.

You can join the Block Party at jb.regis@verizon.net.