Malakar voted out of 'American Idol'

WASHINGTON: Indian American teen Sanjaya Malakar, who had millions of tongues wagging for one reason or another for his continuing staying power on 'American Idol,' has been voted out of the show.

At the end of the vote count, Sanjaya was the lowest vote getter among the contestants, just below LaKisha Jones who has managed to hang on.

A teary eyed Sanjaya told the host Ryan Seacrest that he was fine and that the whole thing was an 'amazing' experience.

The teen then came back to sing one more time 'Something to Talk About'.

Sanjaya grabbed the media attention by his whacky hair styles which in one week even included a so-called Pony Hawk, but hundreds of thousands of his loyal fans stayed with him till the very end much to the annoyance of the show's judges
especially Simon Cowell.

In spite of a perceived weak voice it was expected in some quarters that Sanjaya would eventually make it to the grand finale in May. Among his supporters were radio shock jock Howard Stern and the Web site VotefortheWorst.com, which
has long promoted the show's tone-deaf candidates.

"He's very handsome. That's most of it," said Pat Wright, a gospel choir director in Seattle. "He is a teenager, and young girls and guys really like him."