American Idol: Sanjaya Malakar, Haley Scarnato Could Stick Around

If search traffic is any indication, Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato probably won't be going home any time soon from American Idol.  Both are favorites to be eliminated in the coming week at Bookmaker.com (see website here) yet a review of search engine traffic reveals a different story.  The two were among the most searched for American Idols this week. 

Malakar has been listed with +165 odds of being eliminated this coming week on American Idol.  This bet would pay out $1.65 for every $1.00 bet.  Scarnato is listed with odds of +265, paying out $2.65 on a $1.00 bet.

Both are seen as the least talented in the vocal department, yet Scarnato managed to wow judges and the public with a sexy performance this past week, probably the most talked about.  Malakar is gaining momentum as VoteForTheWorst.com and Howard Stern have been prompting their minions to vote for Malakar each week.  Seeing a young fan in the audience cry helped to thrust Malakar's popularity even further.

Gambling911.com has noted, however, that Sanjaya Malakar searches were heavy long before making it into the Top 12.

"He was the most searched for Idol starting with the Top 24," discloses Gambling911.com's Payton O'Brien.  "His fan site is the biggest referrer to Gambling911 of any other Idol sites."

This later stat is most interesting since Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks - last year's American Idol top two finalists - had fan sites that were the two biggest referrers to the Gambling911.com website.

Search engine traffic in general shows that the least searched for American Idol contestants are none other than Phil Stacey (last) and Lakisha Jones.

Stacey was listed with +180 odds to be eliminated this coming week and unless he really outperforms everyone else, Stacey could be a goner.  One note of interest is that DialIdol.com had Phil Stacey among the top vote-getters this past week.

Lakisha Jones, a judge's and oddsmaker's favorite, was listed with elimination odds of +6600 this week.  That is some excellent value.  A $100 bet would pay out $6600!  With Jones second to last in search engine popularity and seemingly in trouble with the DialIdol vote-getting results this past week, she could result in one of the biggest upsets in bookmaking history.

Chris Sligh is the third least popular among searchers.  Blake Lewis is the third most popular.  Sligh's elimination odds were set at +800 or $800 paid out on a $100 bet (for the small gamblers, $8.00 paid out on a $1.00 bet at Bookmaker.com.

Some interesting facts about search engine traffic and American Idol contestants reveal conflicting results, however.  Antonella Barba may rank among the most searched for American Idol contestants in that show's history (in terms of searches over a specific time period), yet she got voted off before the Final 12.

Don't discount search engine traffic numbers, however.  This week's eliminated Idol has sat at the bottom of search popularity for the past two weeks.

Based on this data, Stacey, Jones and Sligh are very much on the chopping block over the next two weeks and American Idol is more unpredictable than ever, which ultimately can translate into some pretty big bucks for American Idol gamblers.   You can find all American Idol Elimination Odds Here

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com

Originally published March 24, 2007 11:01 am ET