Hung up on American Idol and all the rejects
Do you know American Idol aired its final episode on 7 April?
First aired in 2002, the singing competition television series went on to run for a grand total of fifteen seasons, spawning many other local franchise shows across the globe like Philippine Idol, Indonesia Idol and India Idol.
How successful was the show?
Massive.
For many years, American Idol was the most profitable show on US. television. In 2004 alone, the show was estimated to have generated US$900 million through sales of television ads, albums, merchandise and concert tickets.
Alas, its popularity had dipped in recent years, due to audience fatigue and the mushrooming of other similar, newer shows. In fact, many might not even know that it was still airing a few weeks ago and into its final season. How many past winners can you name?
And so it is time to say goodbye.
On the fifteenth and final season of American Idol, also branded as American Idol: The Farewell Season, Ryan Seacrest continued as the show’s host, while Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick, Jr. returned as judges.
Of course, many past American Idol personalities were invited to perform at the show. Guess who was the one who stole the limelight?
Not one of the winners, but one of the rejects—William Hung.
Photo of William Hung via Yahoo! Celebrities
Yes, we are still hung up on him. Who can forget how he crashed and burned at the audition with his rendition of Ricky Martin’s She Bangs.
Judge Simon Cowell dismissed Hung’s performance, remarking: “You can’t sing, you can’t dance, so what do you want me to say?” To which Hung replied, “Um, I already gave my best, and I have no regrets at all.” His reply charmed the world and Hung is probably one of the first person to go truly “viral” online before the age of rampant social media usage.
Here is a recap of his original audition video for American Idol Season 3 in 2004:
And here is William Hung, still pretty much the same in 2016:
In Asia, we have our fair share of William Hungs.
There is one comedian in Singapore, Steven Lim, who tried to impersonate William Hung in his audition for Singapore Idol:
Steven Lim (@stevenlimofficial) is on migme by the way. Do go chat with him about his experience joining the singing competition. Here is a video of him in 2015, performing his version of Happy (by Pharrell Williams) for Indonesian Idol alumni Rinni Wulandari (@rinniwulandari), Michael “Micky” Jakarimilena (@migpapua) and Lucky Octavian (@luckyoctavian):
Speaking of Indonesia, here is a recap of ten of the best rejects from Indonesia Idol 2012:
Moving on to India, we have this guy from India Idol:
Not to be outdone, Renaldo Lapuz from the Philippines auditioned for American Idol in 2007, singing his own original song, We’re Brothers Forever. His outfit included a handsome wide-brimmed, winged, marabou feather-covered white hat with the word “SIMON” printed on it and a metallic silver cap:
Like Hung, who went on to have a successful showbiz career after getting rejected from American Idol, Lapuz was one of the more successful rejects who went on release an album in 2010.
While we remember the good ones, we remember the bad ones too. In fact, the latter are probably more memorable!
What memories do you have of American Idol or the local version of the show in your country?
- by @alvinology
The post Hung up on American Idol and all the rejects appeared first on migme.
