William Hung mania

[Ian_Lee]

The "American Idol" reject William Hung just held a concert in San Diego with 10,000 fans attending. He even had his own DVD and CD just produced.

It seems that not only Cantonese-accent Mandarin pop singer is hot, Cantonese-accent English pop singer is hot too.

[skylee]

Hmm .... I am sorry, but who is he??

[Ian_Lee]

Hung is the guy who participated in Fox popular singing talent show “American Idol” (like TVB’s “Night of Sharp” in the ‘80s). Hung sang lousily with strong Cantonese accent, danced terribly and was insulted by the anchors.

But Hung had very good attitude. He said:

“ I already gave my best, and thus I have no regrets at all. “

which now becomes a famous motto. Read:

http://www.petitiononline.com/whfox2k4/petition.html

His fans voluntarily put up website for him and the people who have browsed it exceeded 4 million times. Numerous girls from all over the world asks Hung to marry them. See this guy at:

http://www.williamhung.net/

Hung is very hot now and looks likely to become a celebrity.

Hung is a HK immigrant who now attends Berkeley. He looks okay but has a cleavage between his front teeth.

Some dentists offer free of charge to fix it.

P.S. Hung has been nicknamed Hong Kong Ricky Martin.

[tara]

Dunno, but I just feel that people are just taking the mickey out of William Hung.

I have seen him perform on American Idol and obviously cannot understand what the hype is all about. Nothing against William, but in my opinion, he can't sing nor dance well (not that I can). Just hope William can reap in as many profits before the William Hung episode dies off and then focus on his studies?

[tetsuo500]

I'm officially a fan. I want a "TEAM HUNG" t-shirt!

[39degN]

no offence at all, but are you sure they didnt treat him as a jester? by watching his latest Performance provided by his site, i do really think his singing and dance are really awkward.

[Guest nuer]

He is a lousy singer and a lousy dancer. People just think he is an adorable geek who has a positive attitude.

I don't think people really think he is talented or enjoy listening to him. He is good entertainment value. But I doubt this is going to last any longer than six more months.

[Guest iCEeYEs]

no words to reply

[confucius]

He not only has no talent, he also lacks in personality. He's basically an idiot, and no decent girl in her right mind would truly want to be seen with him in public without a $50,000 appearance fee and a "no touch" clause in the contract.

The true shame of it all is that he is currrently permeating a terrible image for Chinese-Americans. I have witnessed the William Hung phenomena in America during situations where Caucasians, Blacks, or Latinos would stare at a Chinese guy and then jokingly say "She bangs" in mockery.

[Ian_Lee]

he is currrently permeating a terrible image for Chinese-Americans

Such accusation is too much.

Will was just having some fun in the rendition. He knew that he sang and danced lousily and terribly. But so what? Everyone knows Fox produces only garbage and nobody takes it seriously.

[tara]

He not only has no talent, he also lacks in personality

As I quoted previously, lets just say he has no talent in singing and dancing.....but personality wise.....I am not too sure coz I don't know him. So I have no comments with regards to his personality....but yah....people do like him.

[sunyata]

He not only has no talent, he also lacks in personality. He's basically an idiot, and no decent girl in her right mind would truly want to be seen with him in public without a $50,000 appearance fee and a "no touch" clause in the contract.

The true shame of it all is that he is currrently permeating a terrible image for Chinese-Americans. I have witnessed the William Hung phenomena in America during situations where Caucasians, Blacks, or Latinos would stare at a Chinese guy and then jokingly say "She bangs" in mockery.

And who do you think is responsible for this?? It's not him, but the people who are making money out of him... The media (due to the non-asian public's response to this guy) is basically abusing Hung's ambitions to make fun of him publicly, thus effectively promoting racial stereotypes and an image of Chinese and Asian Americans as complete retards, who are buck-toothed, have a funny accent, can't dance, can't sing, etc... Why do we not make fun of some white or black retard on TV instead? Because it is much easier to make fun of Asians - unlike African Americans and other minority grioups, they are not well known for fighting back. Make fun of a black dude in your neighborhood, and you better watch your white arse. But making fun of some asian guy is perfectly fine...am I wrong?

fortunately, some people are doing something about this, such as an online petition started in response to a blatantly racist article in the Details magazine:

http://www.koarecords.com/details_asian.jpg

http://www.petitiononline.com/details4/

[TSkillet]

Con - you might be wrong about the women part . . . http://www.williamhung.net/marry.cfm

I don't know how I really feel about it - he's a willing participant in all of this AND he's doing well financially AND it's not like he made up a character to mock Chinese-Americans - he is who he is and is not acting. So I don't know how this really puts Chinese-Americans in a bad light, except that this may be the ONLY exposure that some people may receive about Chinese-Americans. But it's not really a UC Berkeley engeineering major's job to educate people about the diverse nature of Chinese Americans, is it?

What I do like about him, is his humble attitude and really - his general attitude towads the whole thing.

[confucius]

That web site is completely BOGUS! I don't believe any of those "letters" are sincere since they are all written in competition for a silly prize.

The eventual winner will show up for the free dinner with Willy Hung but he'll get thrown out at the plate before he can reach first base.

This just further demonstrates how certain people are using William Hung to perpetuate a false "underdog" hero personality when in fact this guy has no personality at all. Ask him to do ANYTHING other than try to sing "She Bangs" and he falls flat on his face not only for lack of talent but also because he's just not interesting or funny. I watched him appear on a lively talk show and the host was only too eager to move on to the next guest because Hung's answers were so painfully dull.

Give me a $10,000 agent fee and I'll go on the Berkeley campus and find a handsome humble Chinese-American who can perform karaoke much better and sound sharp or witty in TV interviews. One of my buddies in college (University of Washington) was so talented he got his own TV show in Asia. If you ask David Wu off camera (That's right, the Wu man!) what he thinks of the William Hung phenomena you'll hear an opinion quite similar to mine.

[hparade]

i've listened to the singing through a site and it's really horrible IMO.... his singing is very embarrassing indeed.......

[tetsuo500]

While some of the letters may be bogus, I don't doubt that William Hung has a lot of real life fans out there. Humans like the underdog. They want to be entertained by new things. And why shouldn't they? Don't you think it's getting a bit boring having all these 'stars' thrown in our face 24/ 7?

..... What's that? You can hold a tune and pump out a dance routine? Great! So can every second person on the planet.....

I'd like to believe that people are sick of all the no-talent 'stars' quickly taking over the planet, and people really do like William Hung because of his attitude and whatever it is that he stands for.... but I'm going to have to agree that the Hong Kong Ricky Martin is just a fad, and everyone's going to get bored of him as soon as "She Bangs" gets old. Hopefully he gets something out of all this, and the humans are content with their entertainment so they can move onto the next thing.

Hmmmm this reminds of the Simpsons "I didn't do it!" episode.

But to say Will Hung is responsible for the racist attitudes of some humans, and the tarnishing of the Chinese-American name is a bit much. If people decide they're going to racist then they're going to be that way, regardless of what one Chinese-American University student is doing for a bit of fun and fame. And they're free to be that way if want. They may or may not get very far in this world, but sad as it is they're entitled to act however they want.

meh.... this is kind of old already, isn't it? :gets bored: :

[confucius]

Why is it that defenders of Willy Hung always bring up his attitude? I've noticed that an overwhelming majority of his defenders also like to say he is some kind of "underdog" and that is the basis of some kind of entertainment value.

This is a weak argument.

The guy sings like a howling dog. This makes him an underdog?

"Oh, but he has such a good attitude" his supporters say.

People actually believe he deserves some type of consolation for saying that he did his best. I'm sure howling mutts in the street are doing their best too. Let's put them on TV and give them a doggy biscuit for being such a good sport.

The only entertainment value that William Hung truly has is that people like to make fun of his attempt to sing "She Bangs" If he tries to sing anything else other than "She Bangs" (with the possible exception of David Bowie's "China Girl") then people will come to their senses and recognize the fact that it's hard to make fun of him the second time around no matter how hard he tries.

As for the Chinese-American image, I call it as I see it. Some people will forget his name and inevitably refer to him as "that Chinese guy that sings She Bangs" This is exactly what producers of American Idol were hoping for when they put William Hung on TV. His poor singing was ripe for ridicule and everybody wants to hear what Simon is going to say about him, but to make it funnier they told Hung to sing "She Bangs" instead of another song that he had prepared because of the inept dance moves that went along with his performance. They saw this as an opportunity to make a mockery out of somebody who actually thought he was being given a true chance..and the fact that he's Chinese only adds more fuel to the bonfire lit under him. I seriously doubt a Caucasian competitor who did the same song would have generated this much notoriety, in fact I'm sure a white guy singing "She Bangs" would simply have been thrown off the show in the initial rehearsals.

[Amdir_Flassion]

Hey, don't diss him that badly!

He may have been rejected for American Idol, but he's certainly got my vote for Life Idol.

You can't dismiss his attitude can you? It's very good and it's the way we should look at things - once you've tried your best at something then you should not regret it for having a go at many different things in life.

Hey confucius, it's not only entertainment that we look at the media for. For many people who want some guidance in life, they often look to the media like they look to other people and their experiences. True, Willy Hung may sing and dance crap, but for many people out there who want to be inspired by someone who is not afraid to try his best, then that's what they're getting out of the whole thing. So you can't say this argument is weak.

And true, Willy Hung is just one example of many people trying their best in life. But, the difference is that to be on a show where you expect to be insulted and given the worst verbal abuse in your life, but front up to it and face it, is something that I would describe as 'heroic'.

And just with the Chinese American image, I think he has done good to it by promoting ethnic Chinese as people with positive attitudes to life. I would be very happy to be seen that way myself. Of course, we may not like stereotypes and prefer our own individuality, but the after effects are beneficial, don't u reckon? And the reason why Hung was up there singing a song that wasn't his style is all part of the contest - to test your limits by doing a style of song that wasn't really yours.

Who cares if the way he replies to answers on talk shows are really dull? In fact, by being himself on TV, that's what it ought to be - about reality! I'd prefer ppl to show their true inner selves on TV, than be deceived by false images of being 'cool' and 'hip' and having style. That's what I can't stand about Chinese pop culture sometimes - too much image and plastic.

[confucius]

I'm simply trying very hard to disrespect William Hung! Just thought I'd have a go at this forum because I am not afraid to try my best on a worldwide Internet stage. Now that I've tried my best I might have a go at other different things. (Maybe I'll try writing a book about American spies in Heilongjiang province infiltrating across the Russian border!)

I was just looking for a litttle guidance in life and this forum inspired me to do my very best in testing the limits by dismissing William Hung mania as total crap while maintaining a positive attitude to life.

Cheers!

[Nephand]

I seriously doubt a Caucasian competitor who did the same song would have generated this much notoriety, in fact I'm sure a white guy singing "She Bangs" would simply have been thrown off the show in the initial rehearsals.

Ohhh, here in the UK, the original version, called Pop Idol, spawned at the barest minimum two different 'mock-stars'. The first was a white woman of no special talent except she stank at the audition - where she did a very dodgy version of "YMCA" by the Village People. She later ended up on some TV shows and in a TV advert.

Another was two Transylvanian twin girls (I seem to remember they were from there... really!) who had a song written by their mother which they sang. They were an utter joke really, but they went on to make it to number one in the charts for a while. It was hilarious and I imagine they got adequate pay for it... so it's pretty much win-win.

[P.S... in a freakish coincidence one of the winners of Pop Idol was called Will Young... scary 'english mirror' of Will Hung, except with talent! ]