WOW! It's a conspiracy of Indian call center operators! Sanjiya has connections to the all-powerful call centers in Delhi even though he is only half Indian himself and has never even been there.

That must be it.

It couldn't be that a sweet, moderately talented, teenaged boy who is, yes, a bit effeminate, may have made a connection with a portion of the voting audience. Maybe teenaged girls who like his hair. Or all the scrawny geeky mild-mannered boys who have had to take the blows of adolesence from their All-American, corn-fed, football-playing, girl-gawking male peers.

Remember, it's usually the scrawny, mild-mannered geeky boys who get the last laugh. How many former football stars are still back home wondering what happened to their popularity, working at the feed store or selling cars on Dad's lot, while the geeky Sanjiya's of the world move to the cities and through decency, brains and hard work rise up the corporate ladder, raise good families with love and tenderness and get their greatest revenge - through living well.

It's a little sad to me that everyone needs to find some "Indian Call Center" conspiracy to justify why a slightly effeminate teenaged boy who has courageously stepped outsided of his element and shot for the stars could possibly be successful.

There is a LOT of pure meanness, even hate, displayed here about Sanjiya. And it's way out of proportion.

I'm scared that it reflects something darker about our collective psyches.

And no, I don't think he deserves to be here based upon his talent and I don't enjoy listening to him sing.

But there is obviously an element out there who likes him, who enjoys him, and they're picking up their phones and dialing 1-866-IDOLSXX just like you and me. Maybe they're using their dialidol software, but that's not limited to fans of Sanjiya.

Ultimately, it's a contest of advancement by the contestants who get the most phone calls by people who care enough to pick up the phone or hook up their modem and their dialidol software. That's all it is.

And I'm really beginning to question how there can be so much hate for a decent teenaged boy. It scares me a little.

This conspiracy theory nonsense reflects an irrational fear or, at the least, ignorance. Dialidol predicted he would stay (although it was within the margin of error) based upon busy signals received and that information is made available BY STATE (and they don't count votes from India or China or Jhibuti or Guatemala). He's simply getting the votes.

I'm not going to say "Deal with it." You don't have to deal wtih anything you don't want to deal with. But this is a very bad reflection on who we are as a people. And all about a meaningless, but FUN!, talent contest. God help us if a Sanjiya got enough votes to be a governor, a senator or president. I guess you'd blame that on a terrorist plot!

Give the kid a break.