American Idol

Desai rose to national fame with his participation in the eighth season of American Idol. Motivated by the death of his friend Eve Carson,^[11] Desai auditioned for American Idol on August 8, 2008, in Kansas City, Missouri, and was selected as a semifinalist following his "Hollywood Week" performances.^[11] Although he was not one of the three finalists chosen out of his semifinal performance group, he returned as a "Wild Card." On that broadcast, Simon Cowell announced that Desai would continue on as a finalist as part of the first ever Top 13 in Idol history.

Desai's first finals performance of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" was panned by the judges, with Simon Cowell saying that it was "very lightweight" and that he regretted choosing Desai for the Top 13. But Desai won the judges over again the next week, when he sang Willie Nelson's classic country ballad "Always On My Mind" for "Grand Ole Opry Week." Even Cowell was impressed enough to retract his earlier remarks. Desai's rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" three weeks later also garnered praise from the judges.

Despite celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Keith Urban said they favored Desai to win,^[12]he was voted off as part of a double elimination Top 7 week. He returned for the season finale to perform "I'm Yours" with fellow Idol contestant Alexis Grace and singer Jason Mraz.

Performances and results

Post-Idol

Desai in June 2011

After appearing on American Idol, Desai appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Mo'Nique Show,^[13] Access Hollywood, Today, and local radio stations across the nation. He also performed with Amos Lee in Atlanta, Georgia. Desai was part of the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009 with his fellow Top 10 contestants; the tour visited fifty cities in the United States and Canada from July 5 to September 15, 2009.

In 2010, Desai released his first solo single, "My Name," and his debut album, All Is Fair.^[14][15][16] Desai's second single, "All Is Fair (Crazy Love)," was selected by Clear Channel Music and he as an iHeartRadio "artist to watch" for September 2010 with this single as the featured track.^[17]

TOTEM

In 2012, Desai began writing and performing R&B leaning pop music under the pseudonym TOTEM.^[18] The first TOTEM songs were released anonymously and independently on small blogs before being picked up by the likes of FADER,^[19] Billboard,^[20] and Complex.^[21] Eventually, TOTEM garnered significant success on marquee playlists like Spotify's "New Music Friday" and "Pop Rising", and Apple Music's "Best of the Week" and "A-List Pop". in 2016, he headlined the BMI stage at Lollapalooza.

His music, including the singles "Bubblegum" and "Aftertaste," combined with music he has written for other artists, have been streamed tens of millions of times.^[22][23]

Acting

In 2018, Desai was offered a role in the developmental Lab of the then Broadway-bound production of The Secret Garden.^[24] In 2019, Desai made his Off-Broadway debut at MCC Theater in the world-premiere of The Wrong Man, a musical written by fellow pop songwriter Ross Golan.^[25]

In 2020, Desai made his professional on-screen debut on the fifth season of Billions. Later TV guest appearances include Little Voice, Russian Doll, and Evil. In 2021, Desai began portraying the Djinn in the fourth season of What We Do in the Shadows to wide acclaim.^[26] He continues to reprise the role. Desai is next expected to play a major role as Raj Masihajjar in Under the Bridge.

In 2023, Desai made his feature film debut in The Adults.^[27] His next feature film role will be in the upcoming film Babygirl.

Albums

Extended plays

Digital singles

Select TOTEM Discography