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Trump draws striking resemblance to former American Idol star

By Angela Hatcher, News Editor

Sanjaya Malakar was a finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. He had an atrocious sense of style, often pairing leather with leather, denim with denim and ponytail mohawks with odd pink and purple streaks in his hair.

Possibly his most defining feature was his complete lack of singing ability.

One of his most infamous moments is him singing "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About" by Bonnie Raitt, to which Simon Cowell responded by looking directly at the camera and asking America why the hell we were voting for him. Despite Cowell's attempt to knock some sense into the country, Sanjaya continued to progress in the competition.

Sanjaya's performances seemed to get worse and worse each week. Sure, he was a crowd pleaser and funny to listen to, but the "music" that came out of his mouth sounded like a cross between an off key mountain goat bleating as it falls to its death and a cat drowning in a bucket of sour milk. It was comical, really.

My friends and I all had a good laugh after watching Sanjaya perform. We would vote for him after watching every episode so we could have something to look forward to the next week. We loved that talentless fool.

But the competition heated up and as time quickly began to evaporate, fan favorites - talented fan favorites - were being voted off each week. Ladies and gentlemen who were incredibly gifted with real ability took their final bow on the Idol stage, as Sanjaya was somehow, inexplicably standing amongst the other 'safe' contestants.

It was that moment, when it got down to the final 10, that my friends and I realized - holy shit, Sanjaya might actually be the next American Idol. He had an actual chance at winning the competition. He thought he could actually be the next American Idol. And it was no one's fault but our own.

Similar to Sanjaya, Donald Trump, businessman extraordinaire and outspoken public figure, has a very promising chance to be the next president of the United States of America. And it's no one's fault but our own.

When Trump first announced that he was running for president, he had Sanjaya-like appeal.

For example, Trump loves to hear the sound of his own voice. The words that come out of his mouth are so extreme, so radical and so unhinged they have an edge of dark humor to them. In the GOP debates, he shouts at you through your home television set things such as, "All refugees are ISIS in disguise," and "I love Mexico, but they're not sending their best" and that "We are going to build a wall and Mexico is going to pay for it" and that "We're going to carpet bomb the Middle East." These moments are laughable, just like the sound of Sanjaya trying to riff a couple notes, until you realize, "wait ... he's ... serious?"

Yes. He is serious.

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Everyone thought Trump running was a publicity stunt. "Don't worry, he'll dropout," broadcast and print journalists alike would say. It's been several months now since he announced his campaign ... and he's still here. He's polling ahead of the other GOP candidates. People love him. He could actually win. Why is he still here?

It's like what we all thought when we saw Sanjaya on stage during the semifinals of American Idol: "How the hell did Sanjaya get up there?"

Every time I watched one of the GOP debates and Trump was dead center because his numbers were the best, I just thought to myself, "How the hell did Trump get up there?"

This isn't funny anymore. It's not a joke. It is our duty as American citizens to ensure that our nation does not fall into the hands of Donald Trump.

We didn't let Sanjaya get past seventh place. We realized our mistake. Let's have that same realization with Trump, okay people?