Sanjaya Malakar’s Secret Grief Over ‘Idol’ Scrutiny

A source close to Sanjaya Malakar’s family revealed exclusively to TMZ that the 17-year-old ‘American Idol’ finalist has been devastated by recent bad press he’s received over his singing abilities. “He’s so young and so sensitive, it’s hard for him to go out on that stage and not have that devastation affect his performance,” the source told the gossip web site. Read more.

Brandon’s ‘American Idol’ Exit Interview

March 18, 2007 - Brandon Rogers shared his thoughts with AmericanIdol.com in an exclusive exit interview following his departure on Wednesday from ‘American Idol’. Brandon said he wasn’t shocked that he was cut while Sanjaya Malakar stayed on, making poor choices in song selections, forgetting the words, how his experience as a background singer held him to a higher standard with the judges, and his thoughts on the remaining finalists. The interview at americanidol.com has since been removed.

Jennifer Lopez Preps For ‘American Idol’ Latin Theme Week

March 16, 2007 - Jennifer Lopez will soon be making an appearance on one her and hubby Marc Anthony’s favorite shows, ‘American Idol’. Asked by ‘Access Hollywood’ correspondent Tony Potts if she was going to perform, Marc responded, “Yeah, Spanish stuff. Her first single is flying off the charts and we are just so proud of it. That’s what she will be performing and I will be there.” J.Lo added, “I’m excited about it. They asked me to come on. I got this e-mail from my manager that said ‘They know you have a Spanish album coming out and they want to know if you will come on when they do a Latin theme show.’ So I’m going!”