Sanjaya Malakar among top 11 in American Idol contest

Indian American teenage singer Sanjaya Malakar survived yet another round to stay among the top eleven in the American Idol contest despite consistently poor comments from the judges and critics.

Malakar, 17, the first person of Indian descent to make it to the show, finished last but one among the 12 finalists in the results round Wednesday. He is also of Italian descent on his mother's side.

Coming from a family of singers, he auditioned for Idol in Seattle, Washington with his 19-year-old sister Shyamali, and both received invitations to the Hollywood round. However, Shyamali was cut from the show at the end of the round.

In the aftermath of learning that he made the top 40, Sanjaya neglected to celebrate. Instead, he hurriedly went to console his sister.

Malakar cites Stevie Wonder as his idol, having sung Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" at his Seattle audition.

Malakar made it to the top 24 with another Stevie Wonder song, "Knocks Me Off My Feet". He moved to the second round with Irving Berlin "Steppin' Out With My Baby" and the next one with John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change".

In the final round of 12 Tuesday he sang to Diana Ross' theme of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

The judges have been critical of his performances since the audition, though Simon Cowell admitted that Malakar is "popular" with the voters. He performed for four years with the Hawaii Children's Theatre group.

Originally conceived as the US version of Britain's Pop Idol, the show has contestants belt out stirring renditions of classic pop songs each week, while enduring the slings and arrows of the judges before America votes to decide who will be the next American Idol.