It’s hard out there for an American Idol alum. Nine seasons and 107 finalists in, and there are far fewer Jennifer Hudsons and Chris Daughtrys than EJay Days and Scott Savols. Season 8 graduate Anoop Desai recognized that, and so when he finished the Idols Live tour last fall, he decided to try to quickly capitalize on his exposure; taking the money he’d earned from a summer’s worth of live dates, he headed to Los Angeles, and invested in his own career. We caught up with Anoop during a New York City trip earlier in the year, and while technical difficulties prevented us from getting the interview to you before now, we figured with his debut EP, All Is Fair, dropping today, now would be the perfect time to post it. Press play below and hear Anoop discuss the one skill possessed by Kris Allen and Adam Lambert that he envied during his Idol run, the reason he infused some of his pop-R&B tracks with the Indian music he grew up with, and the advantages of joining the “Idol fraternity.” And for all my Idol-related news, interviews, and commentary, follow me on Twitter @EWMichaelSlezak.
Great interview! I’d really love to see Anoop succeed, if only because he’s been so even keeled and smart about his post-Idol situation!
I know – he really knew what were his possibilities were and played the game very well.
He’s terrible.
He’s talented and has a decent business sense. good for him. But those glasses??
Love him! He is a great singer. It is so sweet when he sings. He is a very genuine person. I am so proud of him for sticking to his dreams and having these great songs come out as singles. Paula Abdul-thank you so much sweety for being their for him when he was on the show. Paula I wish you were back on the show.
Ummm, what happened to this week’s regular Idolatry?????
I wondered the same thing… keep waiting to hear Slezak celebrate the removal of Siobhan (or however you spell it)
Actually after I posted, I searched EW.com and found this quote in last week’s recap: On that note, I’ve got my TV Watch recap to write [UPDATE: It's posted, so check it out here!]. Until then, discuss Siobhan’s exit in the comments below, check out the latest episode of Idolatry below (note: the Internet’s Most Important Program is taking a one-week hiatus, but will be back in time to recap Frank Sinatra Week, and, of course, have an exit video with Siobhan herself). Bummer. We will have to wait.
I love Anoop – he’s smart, eloquent, and I’m super pumped for his EP “All Is Fair”.
Fabulous interview as always. Oh Anoop, so articulate as always. I wish him the very best!
I love Anoop. Great interview.
I’ve never been one to buy a CD sight unseen, but I’m going to buy his. I can’t wait.
You have to see the CD when you physically hold it when buying it.
With all the places to buy online I would have to disagree. Very easy to buy without physically holding it.
i can’t get sound when I view full…weird?
i can’t either. odd.
awesome single…just had to listen to it 5x in a row….now if only more of the album trax had that bangra action going on…would be brilliant.
thank you for this awesome interview! his CD is great, highly recommend it. yay anoop!
I downloaded Anoop’s cd and have played it through a few times. I really like what he has put together. His first single was fun, but lacking in several areas. However, the remaining 7 songs are well written, well recorded and he sounds great. I hope people will check them out.
He should be proud of himself for pulling off something this good as a totally independent artist.
oh yes ! Thank you, Michael, for continuing to support Anoop !
I always love the interviews you do with him.
as much as i think anoop’s a great guy, i don’t think he was a better singer than some of the other wildcard contestants who got shafted in his season. ricky braddy and jesse langseth definitely deserved their spot in the top 13 more than anoop or jasmine murray. but american idol has been casting for types instead of singers for a long time now. types may keep advancing in a reality show but it’s the singers who are advancing in the real world.
I completely disagree! His vocals are SO GOOD, that I even think he was worthy of a top 5 spot since his audition. now…did he make good song choices which showcased his vocals? Not quite…nonetheless this guy is legit!
Disagree, but not completely. Anoop was right to be in the top group, but so were Ricky and Jesse. The show was stupid to change the semi-finals procedure that year because it did result in weaker singers making it through. If they’d just picked a top 24 and gone thru the usual semifinals like this year, I bet Ricky, Jesse, Ju’not, and Felicia would have gone through to the top 12, with Anoop, and Jasmine, Jorge, Megan and Scott or Michael would have been out.
I would have preferred Ricky Brady or Jessie Langseth over Megan, Michael Sarver or Scott MacIntyre. But I believe Anoop deserved his spot and proved it on the tour. I love his voice and bought all of his AI iTunes studio recordings last year.
completely agree. i liked them too but over megan, michael and scott. i wholeheartedly believe anoop deserved to be there. don’t yall remember the hype about anoop in the beginning? he just made bad decisions…but he has a killer R&B voice.
I Love this kid! He seems head and shoulders above most Idol contestants in intelligence. Good for him and his success!
He should have his parents do promotional work-they were so cute on AI!!
Love him…. Can’t wait to get the CD. You go, NoopDog!!
He’s so awesome!!!
He has a great voice and I hope he succeeds. I’ll sure buy his CD!