“American Idol”‘s centerpiece this year, Sanjaya, apparently had a crap childhood.

Sanjaya’s world fell apart in October of 1992, when he was just 3 years old – and his sister Shyamali, another Idol contestant, was 5 – after his father, Vasudeva Malakar, 44, filed for divorce from their mother, Jillian Recchi, 41. According to documents obtained by Star from Snohomish County (Wash.) Superior Court, the parents, who had separated a year before the divorce filing, were followers of the Hare Krishna movement.

When the divorce was filed, the family had almost no money coming in. Jill and the children were living in a Seattle apartment, and her only income was $531 a month from welfare. Dad Vasudeva, meanwhile, listed his yearly income as zero, and the couple’s home in a northern Seattle suburb was up for sale.

I’m not even going to say what I was doing in 1992. Jesus, I’m old. Anyway, I love this whole Sanjaya thing. I love how America is voting in a crappy singer on purpose. America has decided to dismantle “American Idol” and this is just the first step. The next? Giving Paula stronger pills. Or continuing to draw pubic hair on Sanjaya’s face before his performances to keep grossing everyone out.