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William James Hung (Traditional Chinese: 孔慶翔, Simplified Chinese: 孔庆翔, Cantonese Yale: Hung2 Hing3 Cheung4, Pinyin: Kǒng Qìngxiáng) (born January 13, 1983) is a student at University of California, Berkeley who gained fame in early 2004 as a result of his off-key audition performance of Ricky Martin's hit song "She Bangs" on the third season of the television series American Idol. In the tradition of Florence Foster Jenkins, he is a fine example of a celebrity that has gained fame not from his talent, but from the novelty derived from his lack of talent.

Originally from Sha Tin, Hong Kong, Hung moved to Camden, NJ, United States in 1993 and graduated from the John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles.

Initial fame

While a civil engineering student at University of California, Berkeley, Hung was inspired to audition for the first season of American Idol in San Francisco during September 2003 after winning a talent contest at his dormitory.

Hung was not aware that his American Idol audition would be broadcast until it aired four months later. He was the final auditioner on the January 15, 2004 installment, the coup de grâce of an hour-long episode that showcased other would-be pop stars, mostly lacking in talent.

"I want to make music my living," said Hung, before he started singing and dancing to Ricky Martin's "She Bangs", showing a lack of vocal talent. As judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul tried to restrain their laughter, 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." Jackson and Abdul applauded his positive attitude, with Abdul remarking, "That's the best attitude yet." Hung's response to Cowell's criticism starkly contrasts with the often confrontational rejoinders of other contestants. Hung added, "...you know, I have no professional training of singing and dancing," eliciting mock surprise from Cowell, who replied, "No? Well this is the surprise of the century." Hung was not admitted to the next round.

Cult following

Hung rapidly gained a cult following. A William Hung fan site, set up by realtor Don Chin and his wife Laura, recorded over four million hits within its first week. Hung subsequently appeared on several television programs including Jimmy Kimmel, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show With David Letterman, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Radio Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Dateline NBC, Arrested Development and CBS's The Early Show. Hung was featured in several national magazines and newspapers; he was parodied on Saturday Night Live and appeared on Celebrity Deathmatch. He was reportedly invited to perform at MTV's Asia Awards held in mid-February. Remixes of Hung's audition performance topped song request lists at a number of radio stations. An online petition to get Hung back to American Idol included more than 100,000 signatures by late February. Hung was brought back to American Idol as part of a mid-season special titled Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented, airing March 1, 2004. The special documented what it was like to experience the audition process and, in Hung's case, emerge as an inadvertent celebrity. Hung has become more famous than many American Idol contestants, being arguably one of the worst singers to grace the American Idol audition stage.

Record deal

William Hung may not have made it past the American Idol judges table, but he was just offered a $25,000 advance on a record deal from Koch Entertainment. The Daily Californian reports that “Hung said he isn’t sure if he would be able to balance his education with a record deal, although he plans on titling his album White Dragon if he accepts the recording contract.” He was surprised with the news after performing during the halftime of a volleyball game at UC Berkeley.

Television, commercials and movies

Hung has appeared in commercials for the search engine Ask.com, as well as the mobile phone service provider Cingular Wireless.

His first movie, a low-budget Hong Kong period comedy called My Crazy Mother (2004), was released in January 2005. Hung played a good-natured village kid who sells Chinese pancakes to pay his mother's medical bills. His character gets discovered as a singer, and helps a woman protect her business from her jealous, conniving elder sister. In the film, Hung played opposite veteran Hong Kong actress Nancy Sit and parodied his own American Idol performance with the song Siu Beng (Cantonese) (Chinese Pancake), an allusion to his American Idol audition song, She Bangs. Despite solid financial backing and the involvement of Nancy Sit, the film was a box office flop.

Hung was the subject of a documentary called William Hung: Hangin' with Hung, a ninety minute film recounting his sudden rise to fame. In February 2006, Hung played himself in an episode of the television series Arrested Development, as part of the fictional band "William Hung and his Hung Jury", the house band of the show "Mock Trial with J. Reinhold".

Hung has appeared in an episode of the MTV Show, Celebrity Deathmatch, where he battles Ricky Martin (who performed the original "She Bangs").

He has also appeared in Airline where he missed his flight, then singing his infamous song once again for the cameras.

Perpetuating racial stereotypes

Commentator Emil Guillermo conjectured that Hung may have not gained much attention had he been of another race, and his popularity may be derived from his being a walking representation of the Asian American stereotype, characterized by nerdiness, studiousness, speaking with a strong accent, and lacking singing talent or rhythm. Documentary filmmaker James Hou commented that "(a)s Asian Americans, we look through this racial lens, and we see this guy who embodies all the stereotypes we're trying to escape from." Some have argued that Hung's career arose out of mockery, and that the media exploited him as a joke rather than as a talented or inspirational figure. Ron Lin, former editor in chief of the UC Berkeley's Daily Californian notes that "(i)t's really difficult for Asian American males to break through and (Hung) may not be the most appealing example."

Discography

• Inspiration (Koch), 2004
• Hung for the Holidays (Koch), 2004
• My Crazy Mother Original Soundtrack (WSM), 2005
• Miracle: Happy Summer from William Hung (Koch), 2005

Notes

1. "Hung Out to Dry". The Village Voice. 2004-04-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. http://news.asianweek.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=f6b346aeef949e07086dba0edb2e63bd
3. "William Hung: Racism, Or Magic?". San Francisco Chronicle. 2004-04-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links and sources

• William Hung at IMDb
• Daily Californian article
• SF Chronicle article
• SF Chronicle: William Hung: Racism, or Magic?
• NY Times: (Asian-Americans) Trying to Crack the Hot 100
• Comedian Pablo Francisco mocks William Hung
• William Hung at Rolling Stone

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• Articles lacking sources from January 2007
• American male singers
• American Idol participants
• American Buddhists
• California musicians
• Chinese Americans from Hong Kong
• Asian American actors
• Koch Records artists
• Internet personalities
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• People from Los Angeles
• University of California, Berkeley alumni
• 1983 births
• Living people
• Asian Americans in music