Sanjaya Makes Surprise ‘American Idol’ Appearance During Finale

Sanjaya Malakar made a surprise appearance on the American Idol season finale during a sketch with Jimmy Kimmel.

The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host brought out a giant time capsule for a sketch to help drag out the finale for two hours, and pulled out some mementos from Idol’s long past. One of them included Malakar’s hair.

Later, Malakar himself came out! Kimmel said he thought Clay Aiken was supposed to be in there too, but Malakar said he ate him.

At the end of the sketch, Kimmel told Malakar to get back in and to put his hair back on “so everyone will know who the hell you are.”

The segment also included an appearance from Ashley Ferl, best known as the “crying girl.” Ferl famously broke into tears when Malakar performed “You Really Got Me,” and became an early viral video star in 2007.

Malakar famously made it to seventh place on Idol‘s sixth season, much to the chagrin of Simon Cowell and the other judges. Still, he is a fan-favorite, as made clear by the reactions from viewers on Twitter.

“Other than the bald head, Sanjaya didn’t look like he aged at all. And that crying girl still looks like a girl in spite of being a grown woman now,” one fan wrote.

“That Idol time capsule was hilarious I couldn’t stop laughing and I was fangirling over Sanjaya like it was 2007 all over again,” another wrote.

“I would personally like to thank @AmericanIdol for bringing back my favorite American Idol contestant EVER, @Sanjaya,” one fan wrote.

“Did Sanjaya ‘eat’ Clay bc the latter had been so critical of #AmericanIdol? Lol,” another added.

Since leaving Idol, Malakar appeared on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and Idol Stars: Where Are They Know?. He also released the single “Talking In Circles” in 2016, notes Billboard.