Sanjaya Malakar - Manchester, NH - American Idol Tour

This is my favorite picture with Sanjaya, taken by Stephanie in Manchester, NH.

The buses were leaving, and Sanjaya had to leave the after party. Sanjaya signed the banner I got from the tour -- it's the green folded thing, which Sanjaya also had that he asked the fans to sign -- and then he posed for some quick pictures and signed autographs for those at the end of the line. When he was finished, Sanjaya looked for me and gave me a tight hug and said thank you. I said goodbye to Shyamali, and I think Sanjaya got a couple more quick pictures with the others and grabbed his gifts. And on his way out of the room, we posed for this. I still remember being surprised at how warm his cheek was pressed to the side of my head (I think he may have had a fever). Stop, smile, Stephanie snaps a picture, and then Sanjaya was gone.

As awesome as the experience was during Sanjaya's birthday in Washington, DC, these last few moments are what I remember the most.

I hugged and said goodbye to the remaining Fanjayas, and Stephanie and I left the building.

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Are you interested in reading about the fans' experiences with Sanjaya? Sanjaya's official forum dazeoffire.com has collected stories, pictures and video of all the stops on the American Idol Tour 2007.

Sanjaya (through his mother and the "Sanjaya Team") gave designated "Torch Reporters" backstage passes to meet Sanjaya in person. Almost every stop, we had a picture of how Sanjaya looked that night.

I've already sent a personal thank you to all the Fanjayas I met in person on the tour via dazeoffire.com, but here's a thank you to all of you just the same. This experience which began on January 17, 2007, I will never forget, and just in case I do -- it has been well documented on "Daze" and in this blog rickey.org: Sanjaya Malakar. I've even become a semi-permanent fixture at the votefortheworst website.

However, only two words can describe what I've experienced over the past few months in relation (or not) to my Sanjaya-fanhood: chick magnet. I know things now that I never knew before. Thank you. Namaste!