Sanjaya Malakar is Tinseltown-bound.
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The former American Idol sixth-season finalist plans on moving to Hollywood, CA with his family once the show's Summer 2007 tour comes to a close on September 22 in Manchester, NH, his mother Jillian Blith told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in a report published last Wednesday.
"We're going to be moving to Hollywood in October," Blith told the Post-Intelligencer. "We just feel we need to be down there for the (music) industry."
Since he'll have new digs in Hollywood, the Post-Intelligencer reported Malakar's stepfather Chad Quist is selling the family's Federal Way, WA home, which is where Malakar lived for the past two years. Realtor Dennis Fletcher expects the five-bedroom house to be on the market this week and is apparently banking on its former owner's celebrity status to boost sales.
He told the Post-Intelligencer the home's listing flyer has a picture of Malakar printed on the back; "Sanjaya-themed" house ads are running in local newspapers and magazines; an audio file of the 17-year-old singing accompanies a slide show of house photos on a listing website; and portraits of the creatively-coiffed former Idol 6 finalist will adorn the house when prospective buyers visit.
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"I've probably spent, so far, about $2,500, $2,600," Fletcher told the Post-Intelligencer. "It's marketing for me, too."
However he was quick to add that -- at a $360,000 asking price -- the newly remodeled home could probably sell on it's own.
"The house is solid," Fletcher told the Post-Intelligencer. "I'm just trying to get attention to the house."
The house in question certainly garnered police attention in February 2005, when Blith, Quist, and Malakar's then 17-year-old sister Shyamali were busted for growing 310 marijuana plants in the garage.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio