Sanjaya's hair stylist tells all: he's a good kid with nice hair

Or, was it a nice kid with good hair?


Jill Ochsner, who twice styled Sanjaya Malakar's hair for his American Idol experience, dished the dirt about the former Idol in a newspaper interview with Joy Henley. "He has fabulous, super thick hair. He doesn't have a perm, it's a natural wave." She added, "He is super sweet and soft spoken. He bubbles with personality. He is a sweetheart."


Ochsner, who styles in Burien, WA, believes Sanjaya's support on American Idol came from "many groups -- teens, the Indian culture, even professionals at Microsoft," the Seattle based software giant.



"Nice kids" may not sell. Kids of color who want to build a music career often affect a gangsta' thug persona to build "street cred." (Personally, I believe a lot of these artists have MFA degrees. That would kill their career if it got out.) Sanjaya doesn't have the basis to pull that off like Vanilla Ice. He would come out Michael Jackson BAD. However, he must overcome the Omarosa effect, the overnight TV fame typecasting that brings great exposure -- and great limitations.



Photo: Sanjaya at the White House Correspondence Dinner, GETTY Images/Nancy Ostertag
Photo: Michael Jackson, http://www.allposters.com/
Photo: Oarosa Manigault-Stallworth, www.bigtv.com