An Open Letter to Fanjayas

It looks like congratulations are in order! Your idol had a successful run, and, with your support, is staying in the public eye. Soon you will be able to see him on tour, and if a record label is smart, you will be able to buy your very own Sanjaya Malakar CD in the near future. Life should be good in Sanjayaland, but there have been murmurs, grumblings if you will...

There are those who say that Sanjaya is a flash in the pan, untalented, conceited even. He has been the butt of late night jokes and the subject of a hundred web articles. There have been rumors that the other contestants resented him, and of course the rumors about his sexuality are flying. It won't be long before his name and face hit the tabloids. As fans- which is short for fanatic, by the way- you will be tempted to rush to his defense, to flame anyone who dares sully his name. It's normal to feel that way. You've invested countless hours on message boards and sprained your thumb hitting redial. But here's some advice:

Don't.

I know it's hard to step away from that ledge, but take it from someone who has walked a mile in your shoes, It doesn't do any good. You're hurting yourself, hurting your cause and hurting the one person you are most trying to help- Sanjaya.

How do I know? I was once like you. You see, I am a Claymate. Yes, I am a fat, old woman with too much time on my hands. Or not- that's just what the bloggers said I was. Funny thing is, I'm not old. Fat is debatable. I could stand to lose a few. I have a great life- I wasn't at all what people said I was. So I left comments. When record reviewers savaged "Measure of a Man," I pointed out the errors of their ways. When they said that Ruben won AI- I cried foul. Of course he didn't. American Idol was all fixed! Didn't they know? When "Invisible" hit the airwaves, I called every DJ within 500 miles of my house.

You know what? None of it helped- and most of it hurt. I know DJs who will never play a Clay Aiken record because they don't want to listen to the Claymates. I know other AI fans who hate Clay Aiken, not because of anything Clay did, but because of the Claymates. We loved him so much that we turned him into a joke. I would like to think that we're older and wiser and have learned our lesson. We buy his CDs, travel the country to see his concerts, flood the message boards and fly to LA to see him on Jimmy Kimmel Live (not that I would ever fly 3000 miles to see Clay sing 5 songs. Nope. Not me. Okay- but it was just that one time. And he looked at me! At meeeee!!!!!!!!! Where was I?), but we have learned to let the jokes and ugliness slide off. I've seen a decrease in the jokes and comments. They no longer find their target, so we're not much fun anymore.

I know your Fanjaya status is still sparkling and new, so it is hard to let the shine dim, but let it- just a little. Don't concentrate on the negative-you'll miss the positive if you do. You are Fanjayas, but you are not his management, his promoter or his mother. Let those people do their jobs- while you do yours. It's the best thing you can do for Sanjaya.

Love,
A Claymate