The singing Malakars

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I want to start by emphatically stating (for the record) that I DO NOT WATCH American Idol. I would rather admit to drinking toilet water. However, I really was flipping channels when I came across the cutest sister (19)/brother (17) from Washington trying out for the show in Seattle. I had to stop and watch. Whatever. I do hate myself. [Pics via Uber Desi from American Idol]

Shyamali sang Summertime. Paula Abdul said she was very nervous, but didn’t need to be. Simon Cowell wasn’t impressed, but both Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul said “yes.” Her brother Sanjaya Malakar sang Stevie Wonder’s “Sign, Sealed, Delivered.” Simon Cowell said he was a lot better than his sister. All three judges agreed on putting Sanjaya through to Hollywood. [Link]

You can tell already that the Idol editors are going to play up the whole sibling rivalry angle which is unfortunate since I’ll bet that these two are as close as a sister and brother can get. Even though the judges thought Sanjaya had a better voice (but his sister better stage presence) he didn’t rub it in on camera. Since I am never watching the show again, I’ll count on some of you readers to let us know what happens with these two. I think they are both too shy but if Clay Aiken could get as far as he got then anything is possible.

There have been a lot of desis on TV this week. Good stuff.

66 thoughts on “The singing Malakars”

  1. I heart them!! They are so cute!

    You can tell already that the Idol editors are going to play up the whole sibling rivalry angle which is unfortunate since IÂ’ll bet that these two are as close as a sister and brother can get. Even though the judges thought Sanjaya had a better voice (but his sister better stage presence) he didnÂ’t rub it in on camera.

    I agree, but I really hope they both make it far in the show. They are both so talented…When the camera showed their family, it looked mixed…are they half and half maybe?

  2. Honestly, these two were SUCH a pleasure to watch, and had surprisingly strong voices. Gotta have mad love for Sanjaya with his rendition of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” I’ll be honest, though, I’m not sure if my judgment is thrown off by the 1.5 hours of absolute CRAP that came before and after.

  3. Yeah, I’m pretty sure their mother is white.

    Seriously, those two were among the very few bright spots from the two days of auditions we’ve seen so far. What a suckfest overall.

  5. I would rather admit to drinking toilet water.

    I knew we had something in common! The graduate school diet never killed anyone.

  6. Ha, I’m still not watching American Idol 🙂 There have been a lot of Desis on TV lately. Not sure there’s anything to be proud of in Dinesh D’Souza’s appearance on The Colbert Report though…

  7. There have been a lot of desis on TV this week. Good stuff.

    yeah right! that’s what i’m saying. begins with 24, then 24 and heroes, then law and order, then american idol, then office and er. did i miss anything? has there been a more desier primetime week than this?

  8. Hahahah…what’s funny, Abhi, is that I knew you wrote this piece before I even scrolled down to actually view who authored it.

  9. abhi: i know secretly you tivo this stuff…

    (ducks for cover…. quickly)

    don’t think they will make it far (no i didn’t hear them or watch the 2 hr drawn out auditions that showcase freaks crazier than the circus side show acts….why is this still one of the highest rated shows? did any of the idol’s really make it big after kelly? i don’t think so….)..but props to them for representing ..

  10. They seemed absolutely sweet, well-raised, humble but really, really talented. I actually think they have a good chance of going far! If they make it further, this may be the second season of AI I watch (after watching the first season through a loooooong summer in Salt Lake City.)

  11. There was a whole scene on Knights of Prosperity last night where the desi character goes to a desi dentist and then proceeds to have a whole conversation (with subtitles) in Hindi. It was hilarious.

  14. Thanks for the gratuitous mention, Abhi. I did not get their names and my TiVo chose a nice time to conk out on me. I’m not a big Idol myself but I guess I may actually follow this season. Ennis, the Singing Macacas has a nice ring to it.

  15. There was a whole scene on Knights of Prosperity last night where the desi character goes to a desi dentist and then proceeds to have a whole conversation (with subtitles) in Hindi. It was hilarious.

    you took the words right out of my mouth sonia… it was funny as heck.. love that show.

  16. I caught this audtition while I was watching the second installment of Little Mosque on the Prairie (which was good btw). Yes I think they will play up the sibling rivalry because sista seems to have some issues with ubercompetitiveness – then again, they could make Simon look like a bleeding heart so I guess it’s all in the way they write this “reality” show.

  17. While I’m rooting for the siblings, I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to actually watch the show. I’ve been raging against reality TV for so long that at this point I’ve got a rep to protect. NO reality television for yours truly.

  19. Oh they are adorable. I couldn’t deal with the really bad but good for ratings singing so I tuned it out. I usually tune into Idol after they’ve gone thru the nonsensense stage and have it narrowed down to people who can actually sing. If they are still around then I’ll definitely root for them. Hell I might even call in!

  22. we need to start an anti-reality movement.. you in? 🙂

    In like Jinn. Never watched that shite. Unless you count Telematch. Used to be the only entertaining show on Doordarshan in ’80s.

  24. Those kids were so adorable! I’m really happy they both got selected b/c they are truly talented. You could see it in the way they paused in between while singing. The important thing about them is their humility.

    The rest of the show shows typical American arrogance – the judges are saying “No, you can’t sing.” and they’re fighting back “what do you know about music?” (um, duh..everything.) If a professional tells you that you suck, you accept it and move on.

    So, it is refreshing to see modesty.

    Plus, if all the desis start calling in and voting for them, it’ll really pull them up!! Didn’t they have that success story for one Filipino (?) girl — She lost the show, but became a huge hit with her market.

    Anyway, these kids were so adorable with their big toothy smiles.

  28. Thanks for the spoiler EE. BTW they’re going to have to change their names if they’re going to get a decent voting base. Did you hear how Ryan was mangling Shyamali? I do like the Singing Macacas though. It has a kind of stick it to them quality.

  29. If you go by the spoilers on idols forum, the boy made it to the final round while his sister made it to the third round…whatever that means. They had the final cutdowns on 1/15/07

  30. I also caught their audition while flipping through channels. Haven’t been caught up in the hype that is AI, admittedly I’m more likely to watch just to see how far they get.

  31. The rest of the show shows typical American arrogance – the judges are saying “No, you can’t sing.” and they’re fighting back “what do you know about music?” (um, duh..everything.) If a professional tells you that you suck, you accept it and move on.

    Not fair. There were some decent and humble perfomers too, most notably, the 16 year old girl from Arizona who was superb. She may go all the way to the final round. She was far superior to anyone else yesterday. (IMHO).

  33. oh chick pea, why did you have to go there?

    because, i’m not a big fan of AI (brown or not) and thought this might remind others to join on the anti-reality bandwagon. (getting off the podium, ducking–you know, the usual) does it not get old? to see paula act like a complete idiot (alcohol or no alcohol), cowell acting like a pompous fool, and randy saying ‘dawg’?

  34. Oh, I was wondering if someone would blog this. When the sibings appeared on the screen, in our house the “Come quick, there’s In’juns on TV!” call sounded. The sister specified that her father was from India and that they inherited their singing voices from him. They showed both parents waiting for the kids to come out of the audition room, and mom was a gori like me. Very nice for my kiddo to see his family “represented.”

    I don’t watch TV in general, but I do watch AI. I could care less about the dramatics from the judges and the ridiculous narcissistic loons who appear during the tryouts – I tune all that out – for me and for me kiddo, the fun is in seeing unknown singing talent compete and emerge (admittedly, I was also a sucker for Star Search back some years…) Surely someone else out there besides me gets their childhood fantasies of becoming a singer tweaked by watching AI?

  36. What if they elimiated the clown aspect of AI and replaced it with real judges and serious singers? From the outste. I am sure there is an audience for that. I am surprised no one has sued Cowell – he is downright rude. Even as an act – drawing attention to competitors’ physical appearnace (big eyes????) is not acceptable.

  37. Neale, I’m sure everyone has to sign a release before they enter that building basically entitling AI to use and edit their footage as AI sees fit.

  38. shlok: Oops, I cut and pasted the wrong quote. I meant that in addition to other desis on primetime shows, Sunita was also in the news in the past few weeks on mainstream channels.

  39. My fiance (sp?) used to watch AI pretty religiously back in season 1 and most of 2….so of course she caught this while flipping channels and I said to her “guaranteed that a post is being created for Sepia Mutiny as we speak” – thank you Abhi and rest of mutiny for the sense of predictability you have added to being brown and being in America 😉

  41. Heh. I heart “American Idol” and I’m pretty sure you do too. I’ve been waiting 5 seasons now for them to have a desi kid on…and now we get two for the price of one.

    They were pretty much the only contestants yesterday who were not completely ridiculous. Representin’!

  42. quizman, oh yeah you’re right.

    it’s funny how i was concerned with african americans being underepresented in the media. and didn’t even realize that there weren’t any desis on TV whatsoever. look at us getting excited because there is a handful of, most ever, brown folks on tv.

    remember back in the day when shows like ‘family matters’ were on, they’d use the same desi looking guy for all south asian and middle eastern roles?

    thanks gauravm for the link. i never saw it before.

  43. They showed both parents waiting for the kids to come out of the audition room, and mom was a gori like me. Very nice for my kiddo to see his family “represented.”

    goriwife…I agree, it was totally cool to see a mixed family up there. 🙂

  44. Just caught the singing Malakars on youtube. They were really charming and talented. The boy needs a haircut though- that was my hairstyle at 17 but then again, that was in 1980 🙂

  45. youtube video I can’t stand AI, so thanks for this! so cute, the malakar macacas! Simon, you’re fired, they’re both lovely. plus she was good about her name.

  46. because, i’m not a big fan of AI (brown or not) and thought this might remind others to join on the anti-reality bandwagon. (getting off the podium, ducking–you know, the usual) does it not get old? to see paula act like a complete idiot (alcohol or no alcohol), cowell acting like a pompous fool, and randy saying ‘dawg’?

    Of course it gets old, but sometimes folks are impressive. I like the singing. I know, that sounds stupid.

    I think I thought something totally different when you mentioned William Hung – he was on the “talent show” circuit at Cal before he premiered on AI, so those of us who saw him pre- and post-AI probably have a different reaction 🙂

  47. it’s funny how i was concerned with african americans being underepresented in the media. and didn’t even realize that there weren’t any desis on TV whatsoever. look at us getting excited because there is a handful of, most ever, brown folks on tv

    Some time ago I remember hearing (maybe reading?) Oprah Winfrey discuss how, when she was a child and a Black person appeared on television, it was a HUGE thing and everyone in her house would come running to the TV to see it. Anybody remember the man with the red white and blue turban who was on camera often during the Democratic National Convention in ’04? I was down in the basement doing laundry when my husband started yelling, “get upstairs quick – there’s a Sikh guy on National TV!” Seeing himself represented in the mainstream was a really big deal; one that I’ve had the privilege of taking for granted my whole life.

  48. Some time ago I remember hearing (maybe reading?) Oprah Winfrey discuss how, when she was a child and a Black person appeared on television, it was a HUGE thing and everyone in her house would come running to the TV to see it. Anybody remember the man with the red white and blue turban who was on camera often during the Democratic National Convention in ’04? I was down in the basement doing laundry when my husband started yelling, “get upstairs quick – there’s a Sikh guy on National TV!” Seeing himself represented in the mainstream was a really big deal; one that I’ve had the privilege of taking for granted my whole life.

    Haha…that how it is. Last night, when the Malakar’s came on TV, I was in the next room over studying. My husband started banging on the wall like nobody’s business and hollering for me to get in there and watch. We held our breath until they started to sing and when they both turned out to be totally awesome and both made it through, we were high-fiving each other and cheering like they were family. Mr. Masala is of Jewish descent and we did the same thing last year when a Hasidic Jewish teen auditioned for “so you think you can dance” as a breakdancer. It’s always nice to see members of our communities get public recognition because so often TV shows (reality or not) don’t reflect us very accurately.

  49. I got a call by one my white friends….in another state.

    “DUDE! I doubt you watch this, but…”

    “…but two Indians were on American Idol? Yeah, I saw.”

    The one day out of two weeks I actually sit on my couch and turn on the TV, I spot two Indians singing in front of me. Although they are NOWHERE near as entertaining as that one sardar kid who auditioned for Popstars some years back. Now THAT was entertainment, pure and simple: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGr_A8crtq0