Sanjaya's Performance with Joe Perry on American Idol Finale: Laughable

It was a short clip in the Sanjaya's colossal introduction during the American Idol finale, but it proved what many have known is true: American Idol's producers definitely have a sense of humor. They actually lauded Sanjaya for being one who, "stands firm in the face of adversity."

I suppose they mean the constant criticism of his singing? Or was it the fact that everyone in the world seemed to pick up on his lack of talent? Or maybe it was his lack of shame in sporting those ridiculous hair styles each week.

Even more humorous, the introduction began with the statement, "True visionaries seize the day and shape our future." They then proceeded to compare Sanjaya to "JFK, Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi." As they teased the audience to figure out who they were referring to that had the "courage to embrace his destiny," I could not believe my ears when they introduced Sanjaya Malakar.

Sanjaya proceeded to perform a less than impressing rendition of "You Really Got Me Now," accompanied by none other than Joe Perry from Aerosmith. Despite the lack of success he had with this song the first time, American Idol's producers somehow felt that it was appropriate to allow Sanjaya to share the stage with a real musician like Joe Perry. They must have paid Joe Perry an awful lot of money to convince him to subject himself to such a joke. Or maybe Joe Perry just has a sense of humor too.

When Ryan's concluded the performance with some comment about how rock history had just been made, I knew it was for sure: Sanjaya is the sense of humor in the making of this season's American Idol.

I have never really wanted to see the American Idol tour show, but this year I really am interested in buying tickets to see the finalists on tour. Usually I could care less about all but maybe one or two of the finalists, so it would certainly not be worth the money to see the show. This year, however, I am really thinking that it might be worth it just to see what they do with Sanjaya. What humorous hairstyles will they come up with? How far will they carry this joke? I would also be interested to see what the chemistry is like between Sanjaya and other contestants... including some of the very talented American Idol finalists who were voted off BEFORE Sanjaya. (Thank VoteForTheWorst.com for that one!)

I must admit that I am starting to feel a little bit bad for Sanjaya. It's obvious to the rest of us that the joke is on him. The extravagant introduction comparing him to Gandhi showed us all that American Idol is definitely in on the joke. How long will Sanjaya let the world laugh at him?