Sanjaya Malakar is doing more than just (inexplicably) sending people to the phone lines.

He's also sending them to the hospital, the car dealership rooftop, the unemployment line, the radio call-in shows and, as the latest influx of anti-Sanjaya assaults proves, to the mattresses.

The polarizing 17-year-old from Federal Way, Washington, sailed through another round of competition on American Idol this week, prompting a renewed effort for his elimination from detractors across the country who, it seems, would have thought it less a travesty for William Hung to be crowned season three's victor than for the ponyhawked anti-Idol to survive another results show.

Unfortunately, while Hung had the charming benefit of being oblivious to his utter lack of talent, Malakar appears to be—has to be—not only aware of his position as the butt of a national joke, but somehow gains strength from it.

Malakar is currently the most searched for of all this season's contestants on Yahoo!, including the scandalous Antonella Barba, and any previous Idol winner, according to the search engine.

Not that a slew of Idol purists aren't doing everything in their power to weaken the talent-deprived contestant's stronghold on the hearts, keyboards and phone lines of teen girls and pop-culture saboteurs.

The latest non-Fanjaya warrior to take up arms in the noble battle is Philadelphia's 96.5 FM radio personality Justice, who has valiantly vowed to camp out atop the roof of a local car dealership until Malakar gets the boot.

"The little tweenies, they think he's cute," he said. "He's got great hair, he's such a sweet guy."

Justice, however, is not leaving his perch, where he has been since last Thursday, until the little tweenies come to their senses and back another contestant.

The deejay said he was inspired in his outlandish protest by Sanjaya-hyping heavyweights Howard Stern and the Website votefortheworst.com, both of which have decided to back the chameleon-haired contestant in an attempt to undermine American Idol and bring the ratings juggernaut to its knees.

"We're corrupting the entire thing," Stern said on his Sirius Satellite Radio show last week. "All of us are routing American Idol. It's so great. The number one show in television and it's getting ruined."

Of course, while their efforts have discerning Americans running scared, Stern & Co.'s attempts have so far done nothing to sway the producers' confidence in their democratic voting method.

The judges maybe, but not the producers.

While Simon Cowell famously told Extra he would quit the show if Malakar was crowned champ, exec producer Ken Warwick said there is a slim chance of that coronation actually happening.

"There is very little hype anybody can do to affect the vast numbers of votes we get," he told the New York Daily News, adding that it was unlikely any technical tampering had been done to secure Malakar his votes.

Also unlikely: The notion that call centers in India, bestowed with thousands of units of man power and speed dial, have been keeping the contestant afloat.

In India, Idol is broadcast on a little-seen English-language channel, far from the reaches of prime time. Furthermore, Malakar, in what few Indian circles he's actually known, is generally acknowledged to be "a joke," India Uncut blogger Amit Varma told the Associated Press.

Some truths really are universal.

Beyond that, call center workers couldn't vote for Malakar even if they wanted to. All their outgoing calls are automatically dialed by computers.

So who is keeping Malakar on the show?

Rose McGowan, for one. The Grindhouse star recently told TMZ that the "funny Indian kid" was her top choice for the reality show because "he's horrible, he's great. Keep on keepin' on with your bad voice and bad hair, America loves it."

Except for those corners of America where Sanjaya is not their papaya.

An American Idol fan blogging under the name "J" went on a MySpace-chronicled hunger strike for 16 days in an effort to get Malakar eliminated. She only stopped after doctors ordered her to do so so as not to cause lasting damage to her health. And while Malakar remains on the show, her strike wasn't a complete loss—she did drop 17 pounds.

Others have opted to voice their outrage in less dramatic ways, like the posters on IfSanjayaWins.com, who offer their best (or rather, worst) "If Sanjaya wins, I will..." responses.

A poster going by the name "Kevin Covais," the same moniker as last year's token awful contestant otherwise known as Chicken Little, wrote: "If Sanjaya wins, I will know for sure that I was robbed of my well deserved victory."

"Ronny" meanwhile, proclaimed that, "If Sanjaya wins, I'm gonna need whatever drugs Paula Abdul is on!" while poster "MaryLauren" said that "If Sanjaya wins, I will personally screw every employee of the record company that is obliged to give him a record deal. Wait. Looks like they will have already been screwed."

Or not.

Idol exec producer Nigel Lythgoe recently told TV Week that Malakar making it to the Idol podium may not be the disaster its proponents are hoping it to be.

"Taylor [Hicks] won the competition, but he isn't the one selling albums at the moment. So what is the win at the end of the day?"

"I do understand why people vote for him," Lythgoe said. "I really do. I think Sanjaya is going to win in the sense that he's going to have a very interesting career. He's certainly going to have food for the rest of his life, isn't he?"

Certainly if KFC has anything to say about it.

The fast food chain made Malakar an offer to keep him in Kentucky Fred Chicken's signature Famous Bowls for life, as well as make a sizable donation to their Colonel's Scholars charity in Malakar's name, should he sport a bowl cut during a forthcoming performance.

Of which, it seems, there will be plenty more to come.