By Jeff Hamlin
Assistant News Director

He was eliminated from American Idol.

Still, Anoop Desai still found a way to look to the bright side.

Not only that, but Desai will be a part of the entertainment for the North Carolina State Fair this fall. State fair officials have announced that Desai will fill the final open spot for performers for this year’s fair. His concert will be October 22nd at Dorton Arena.

Desai graduated from UNC in 2008 and East Chapel Hill High School in 2004. He was a graduate student in the field of cultural anthropology working towards a master’s degree in folklore at UNC before he auditioned for American Idol. After being the musical director of UNC’s Clef Hangers, many of his friends implored him for years to try out for the famed FOX program.

But it took the death of Eve Carson to make him go through with it.

Desai wound up finishing in the top seven of American Idol, even though celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Keith Urban favored him to win. Tickets for Desai’s performance at the State Fair are just $5.