When the Celebrity Is the Joke (and Is In on It) (NY Times)
A YOUNG man with an unusual perspective on the ups and downs of life is singing the praises of being prepared financially.
The verb in that sentence may help you guess his identity. He is Sanjaya Malakar, who may be the most talked-about contestant to appear on the popular reality series “American Idol.”
Mr. Malakar, who turned 19 on Wednesday, is featured in a commercial for Nationwide Financial that is part of the next installment of a campaign carrying the theme “Life comes at you fast.”
There is also a special Web site (sanjaya-ize.com) where visitors can customize photographs of themselves with different looks sported by Mr. Malakar on television; the results can be shared with friends and family.
The rise of Mr. Malakar last year from unknown Seattle-area teenager to national sensation as a finalist on the sixth season of “American Idol” was meteoric. The debate over his talent, or lack thereof, and his oddball hairstyles, like the “ponyhawk” — ponytails crossed with a faux mohawk — attracted so much attention that he has become part of American popular culture.
