Earlier this week I was surveying some recently and soon-to-be-released albums as I decided what to load on to my mp3 player. Like many, I enjoy listening to music when I work out and especially when I run, so something upbeat was in order. I checked out the new Common and Lily Allen albums and they seemed worth loading. Then however, I came upon the must have release-of-the-week and used up the rest of my allowance:

Before I go any further I want to be clear that I don’t think that jokes about schizophrenia are appropriate. It is not Sanjaya’s fault that he has to listen to the musical voices inside his head. However, I do blame his manager and the record producers for giving the rest of us a ring-side seat. Manson-like cults could form around the contents of this body of work. The first single (titled “A Quintessential Lullaby”) is a psychedelic journey that blends the line between real and dream:

I mean…the lyrics quite literally blew my mind. Tomorrow morning I am going to write down what “happens when I wake up” while I play a Karsh Kale tune in the background.

But there is more good news. The CD has been released in conjunction with Sanjaya’s memoir (of the same name):

ABC News had an exclusive excerpt last week:

Since the producers and directors had to set up shots and locales—and because they wanted us to be available the second they were ready—we did a whole bunch of sitting around, chilling, talking, napping, and staring into outer space. We were sleep deprived, undernourished (or badly nourished, depending on your attitude toward catering), and stressed about auditioning for Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson—aka the Big Three—show after show after show.

I think that part of the reason they ran us so ragged was to emotionally strip us. They wanted to see what we could do when we were at our most vulnerable. If our nerves were right at the surface, that could lead to onstage meltdowns, or offstage drama, either of which would lead to better ratings. Also, they wanted to see how we could handle the pressure of having twenty-five hour-long commitments in a twenty-four-hour day. None of us knew if a successful (or even semisuccessful) career in the music industry would be that difficult, but at least we’d be prepared. [Link]

I have highlighted the excerpt above to draw your attention to the most relevant details. Some (not me, but some) might argue that Idol producers were taking advantage of a latent instability in order to evince and harness the voices and music inside Sanjaya’s head.

I was interested in reading the reviews of Amazon customers who were just burning to know what was in Sanjaya’s head and promptly purchased and read his memoir. I learned something I didn’t know:

He became a nickname in office spaces for an employee who served no purpose but was kept around for the fun of it. [Link]

And then it occurred to me why Vinod and Anna call me “Sanjaya” here in our North Dakota headquarters. I just thought it was because I had nice hair.