Sanjaya Malakar

Thanks to his wild and outrageous hairdos, including one infamous faux hawk, season six finalist Sanjaya Malakar emerged as one of the most talked about and highly polarizing personalities that ever emerged from "American Idol" (Fox, 2002-16). Sanjaya Malakar was born on Sept. 10, 1989 in Bothell, WA to an Indian father, who was a classical musician, and an Italian-American mother. Malakar spent a majority of his formative years in Seattle, but after his parents divorced, his mother took him and his older sister to live in Kapaa, HI, where he became involved in a local children's theater group. The family moved back to Seattle in 2000. In high school, Malakar never shied away from performing; he often played guitar and sang during class. After his sophomore year, he took the GED high school equivalency exam so he can get a head start on pursuing a musical career. In the fall of 2006, Malakar auditioned for season six of "American Idol" in Seattle, along with his sister Shyamali. While both siblings advanced to the semi-finals round in Hollywood, his sister was eliminated in that round while Malakar advanced as one of the Top 12 finalists.