Sanjaya To Vex “Idol”-Watching Populace In Entirely New Way

Buried in a Variety piece about an upcoming Jennifer Lopez-produced miniseries on Univision is this nugget about tonight’s American Idol, which will be “Latin Night” and feature Lopez coaching the Idol hopefuls in the finer points of turning a lousy voice into a clothing line:

“Idol” viewers who’ve been rooting for the exit of Sanjaya “The Hair” Malakar will be disappointed to know that, per [Lopez’s manager, Simon] Fields, Malakar sounded OK when he sang a Spanish-language song for Lopez. “He sang beautifully,” Fields insisted.

Before you breathe a sigh of relief, remember: Fields manages Jennifer Lopez, so the bar for “beautiful” singing as far as he’s concerned resides somewhere within Lopez’s reedy pipes. Still, we have to give Sanjaya points for at least trying to keep it real by singing a Spanish-language tune–the just-bounced Gina Glocksen told Entertainment Weekly that she’d be singing the disco classic “Everlasting Love,” which apparently gets Latin Night points because Gloria Estefan covered it a few years ago^*–although we’re a bit worried that the song he picked will be an old chestnut by Los Del Rio.

Lopez, Univision in unison on drama [Variety]

^* We’re putting the odds on Haley mewling “Turn The Beat Around” at 3-1.