He has inspired a hunger strike, spawned dozens of television spoofs, appalled music snobs, reduced a child to tears and been adopted by the shock DJ Howard Stern. And now it is feared that Sanjaya Malakar, 17 a contestant on American Idol, may help to bring down one of the most profitable franchises in history.

Although the show’s producers have long encouraged performers of dubious talent to audition for the show, they are usually voted out long before the contestants are whittled down to the final ten.

This year, however, with American Idol’s ratings down by about 10 per cent, and fans complaining of a lack of talent, Sanjay — the shy, androgynous and elaborately coiffeured son of a classical Indian musician from Seattle — has found himself a serious contender to win, largely thanks to a subversive campaign to “vote for the worst”.

If Sanjaya does win, critics argue that the show will never be taken seriously again. Simon Cowell, Idol’s judge, has already threatened to quit if Sanjaya wins the contest.

It would be hard to underestimate the effect of Idol’s decline on American popular culture and the music industry. Not since The Ed Sullivan Show, which ran from 1948 to 1971 and introduced the nation’s youth to Elvis Presley and the Beatles, has a television show managed to dictate musical tastes so effectively.

Yet the producers of Idolalso run a music factory as ruthless and effective as Berry Gordy’s Motown — and have sold 20 million CDs since the show was first aired in 2002.

USA Today calculated that Idol makes about $900 million (£576 million) a year from sales of adverts, albums, merchandise and concert tickets. Many of the show’s contestants have gone on to win Grammy awards, one even an Oscar. Votes cast during last year’s show topped one billion, with contestants in the final ten getting more votes than presidential candidates.

One explanation for Sanjaya’s success is Stern, who has repeatedly promoted Sanjaya and the website votefortheworst.com to his six million listeners. The website features an image of Sanjaya doing his trademark hula-dance and a plea for votes.

Publicity for Sanjaya just keeps growing: a 23-year-old blogger from New York has gone on hunger strike to protest against the singer’s continued appearance on the show, while Idol producers ridiculed his fans by focusing repeatedly on a bawling 13-year-old girl with blonde pigtails in the studio audience. She became a celebrity overnight.

Critics fear that Sanjaya’s appearance in the contest’s final stage may be the moment Idol “jumps the shark”, an expression derived from a scene in the sitcom Happy Days when the character Fonzie jumps over a shark while water skiing. This is regarded as the moment the show began its decline towards cancellation.

Although the show is top of the ratings, drawing an audience of almost 30 million, it was beaten recently by the drama Grey’s Anatomy. Nigel Lythgoe, Idol’s British executive producer, admitted this week: “To be honest about it, people are saying this is not our greatest year for talent. I don’t necessarily agree with them.”

Losing numbers

— Dallas, the Texas soap, is widely credited with digging its own grave by bringing back Bobby in 1985, with the excuse that his death had been dreamt by his wife, Pam

— Viewing ratings dwindled for M*A*S*H after BJ grew a moustache in season 7.

— Bewitched dropped 13 places in US ratings after Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as Darrin in 1968 British soap Eldorado ran for only a year in 1992 — victim of overexposure in the media and amateurish acting

Source: Jumptheshark.com ; International Movie Database ; www.Bewitched.net ; www.tv.com

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