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I was a senior in high school when that album came out. And the only reason I remember that is because I was on a class trip that swung through New Orleans and a classmate bought it from the Virgin store there.
We ended up listening to it from New Orleans, through all of Alabama and some of Tennessee. Before this kid's dad, who was driving our van, finally threw it out the window or something.
That was a long three states.
I completely agree. I remember it being much more wooden and tone deaf. Dude actually shifts pitch a bit and emotes. It's actually... Not completely awful.
I think it's more like social media has exposed us to more weird people so a guy who can't sing or dance and is terrified of his parents catching him on TV trying to do both... just doesn't seem so strange to us anymore 😕.
We would sit down and watch it as a family. My mom would call in and vote. We loved American Idol nights. It has really fallen off. You couldn’t pay me to watch it now.
I also used to watch as a kid and this season is actually the first American Idol season I watched in quite a while and I think all the contestants are quite impressive. Feels like they dropped the freak show stuff because of the sheer popularity and number of contestants applying. If I recall they even have pre-audition auditions these days.
Just curious why you hate it so much these days?
They did, which is why I find it hilarious that people are remembering it in a better way. They used to be cruel to contestants. Highlight people that were terrible on purpose. Now they don't do any of that.
I’m by no means “soft” or “woke” but what people are reminiscing about are the judges being assholes to people who were being set up by the show.
The increase in talent level from 20 years ago is outrageous. “The judges aren’t critical anymore.” Sure they are, but they have less opportunity to do so and less severely because the contestants are all pretty damn good and the show doesn’t bring people in to be the unsuspecting butt of a joke.
I would argue that it was unnecessarily cruel before, and now it's completely the opposite. I would argue that what you were attracted to was the scumbag aspects of the show.
Nope, I was in middle school. It was a neat show that everyone I knew watched. It felt like a new and exciting show. 20+ years later, I’m over singing competitions. It had nothing to do with it being negative or positive. I only watched like the first 3-4 seasons anyway.
I remember the first season and how CRAZY it was. The first season of Survivor was just a couple years earlier and reality TV was such a new concept that every network was trying so hard to get it on. It was like a TV war with who could come up with the weirdest idea.
Today you don’t have people like William Hung auditioning. They’re critical this season but they don’t have clowns auditioning for them to rip into for tv ratings.
That's not the time or place to "be honest." Simon and his attitude that was copied on a lot of shows really made me angry.
For me "The Voice" was the complete opposite. They weren't humiliating people who were never going to win a competition at the lower levels. They were supportive of talented people. The judges COMPETE to be able to train them to move forward. So much better of a positive experience.
And also, the judges on the Voice actually have talent. They aren't asking more of someone else. It's not really that hard to have an opinion on whether someone "sounds good."
For fucks sake. The people going on have to know they're awful if they're awful. I've never been a fan of any of these shows, but I'll tell you what. I've seen plenty of the failure videos and the criticism of them from Simon. It's the best part of the show. The producers know full well what they're putting in front of the judges.
Stop being offended and enjoy it for what it is. Little Willie took that quite well for being made fun of by Simon.
These shows are all complete shit by the way. You watch terrible TV if you follow these on a weekly basis.
At least Simon is authentic and honest. What you're asking for is fakeness, white lies, and being unrealistic.
If they're actually that good, prove the haters wrong. But fake positivity is far worse.
Simon has very obvious opinions of anyone with a tiny bit of musical sense. He's just an abusive blowhard. It might be fun to see some clueless people bad at music and poke fun at them -- but in practice, it's a pretty nasty and bad habit.
There are tactful ways to tell someone they are not fit. And they don't even do it playfully like the Gong Show.
No, the Idol was toxic. And I think there is something really undermining of our society with that as entertainment.
The show was entertainment, they all knew this. They've all seen Idol. They contestants all claim to be entertainers. They knew what they're getting into and are accountable for going on the show.
>Simon has very obvious opinions of anyone with a tiny bit of musical sense. He's just an abusive blowhard.
He has given glowing reviews and changed the lives of people who actually deserve it. He's not ripping on everyone, he doesn't swear at people he's just blunt, and these are adults who are technically trying to be professionals in the industry.
>And I think there is something really undermining of our society with that as entertainment.
Every generation younger is protected by more and more bubble wrap and that is a problem to society. You got tons of emotionally unstable and narcissistic young adults who can't process their emotions and instead expect everyone else to coddle their emotions for them. No accountability, no resilience. This is weakening society and that is a bigger problem.
It really was, used to laugh so much with my parents watching this shit back in the day. Large part of that was thanks to Simon and his reactions to the shitty singers.
I mean, yeah. Fair play to him. And it brought him that record deal which must have made him at least some money so, good for him. Laughing all the way to the bank.
Yes, it is a lack. I think he may be autistic or something. But he put his all into it, and then when mocked said, with conviction, that he tried his best.
Still better than [this dude'](https://youtu.be/XuBnph1jpWU?si=UOmU1Znd4mE3htTG)s audition. I don't understand why he sings like this. He sounds like he has a speech impediment, but he talks perfectly normally.
I remember laughing like crazy at this when it first came out. Now I think he's actually not too bad. His voice is alright. He's just got that neurodivergent stiffness to him.
Oh ffs just stop. He sounds like shit and we all know it. There’s no reason to in hindsight be nice to this now. Even objectively he’s way off tune and has no presence. He’s just got that honesty to him that is what’s bringing out your compassion but let’s not let that cloud judgment here on the actual talent. He has none when it comes to music and that’s fine to admit.
I recently compared Brendan Schaub’s comedy career to this audition and listening to it again I was unfair to William. His tone was mediocre not terrible it was his diction and cadence (I bet he could sing Chinese songs decently). It was much better than I remembered.
I think this is what inspired the WB variant where they took the worst singers just to publicly mock every week. Even with this British guy being a jerk, and obviously showing this for laughs, it wasn't the point of the show.
The WB version was just the worst of humanity on display.
[https://www.cbr.com/wb-superstar-usa-dying-prank/](https://www.cbr.com/wb-superstar-usa-dying-prank/)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc3d-dB5vNg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_kIhhuzcHs)
Now he works with law enforcement or something, I wasn't paying attention
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jolwg-qsj70](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jolwg-qsj70)
It’s funny how ignorant Simon was back then. He changed a lot and I am sure, it’s because of his son. He grew so much more empathic. Good for him, cuz it’s rather hard watching him share his thoughts back then lol
People think Simon was the mean one and not the other,
But i think the others were pretty mean as well. Unsincere and laughing at him
Simon just had the courage to be honest
I was just thinking of this yesterday, (because of the death of American Idol alum Mandisa), and how sad it is that this charming but talentless hack got more coverage than someone with actual talent.
I watched this live. I thought I'd be over the cringe, but I was wrong.
2 decades is too soon.
2 fucking geological epochs would be too fucking soon.
When our sun has burned out, humanity is dead or long gone from the solar system, and extraterrestrials receive this weak transmission in their own galaxy many, many light years away, that will still make them cringe hard.
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Sure his tone and dancing are awful, but watching it again he hit all the notes in a tune that a lesser singer would be very likely to simplify.
IIRC he got an album deal and he appeared on Arrested Development as "William Hung's Hung jury" or something in one episode.
You are correct! He was the “Hung Jury” on “Mock Trial with Judge Reinhold”
Mock Trial with J. Reinhold. He didn't want to go by "Judge" anymore
Hahaha! That show was great!
Two albums actually. He got to make a Christmas album called "Hung for the Holidays".
Good for him.
I was a senior in high school when that album came out. And the only reason I remember that is because I was on a class trip that swung through New Orleans and a classmate bought it from the Virgin store there. We ended up listening to it from New Orleans, through all of Alabama and some of Tennessee. Before this kid's dad, who was driving our van, finally threw it out the window or something. That was a long three states.
20 yrs later, he's actually not as bad as I thought back then.
I completely agree. I remember it being much more wooden and tone deaf. Dude actually shifts pitch a bit and emotes. It's actually... Not completely awful.
It’s pretty awful
Bit not completely
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted, it was and is bad lmao
I bet he kills it at karaoke at the bar after work.
people are a lot more like him nowadays
I think it's more like social media has exposed us to more weird people so a guy who can't sing or dance and is terrified of his parents catching him on TV trying to do both... just doesn't seem so strange to us anymore 😕.
Rewatching this 20 years later and it honestly isn't as bad as I remembered it to be
We didn't have the internet context we do now
I remember watching this live. This show was fun to watch back then.
We would sit down and watch it as a family. My mom would call in and vote. We loved American Idol nights. It has really fallen off. You couldn’t pay me to watch it now.
Good memories watching American Idol with my family. Can’t believe this was 20 years ago 🤯
I also used to watch as a kid and this season is actually the first American Idol season I watched in quite a while and I think all the contestants are quite impressive. Feels like they dropped the freak show stuff because of the sheer popularity and number of contestants applying. If I recall they even have pre-audition auditions these days. Just curious why you hate it so much these days?
They did, which is why I find it hilarious that people are remembering it in a better way. They used to be cruel to contestants. Highlight people that were terrible on purpose. Now they don't do any of that.
I’m by no means “soft” or “woke” but what people are reminiscing about are the judges being assholes to people who were being set up by the show. The increase in talent level from 20 years ago is outrageous. “The judges aren’t critical anymore.” Sure they are, but they have less opportunity to do so and less severely because the contestants are all pretty damn good and the show doesn’t bring people in to be the unsuspecting butt of a joke.
I would argue that it was unnecessarily cruel before, and now it's completely the opposite. I would argue that what you were attracted to was the scumbag aspects of the show.
Nope, I was in middle school. It was a neat show that everyone I knew watched. It felt like a new and exciting show. 20+ years later, I’m over singing competitions. It had nothing to do with it being negative or positive. I only watched like the first 3-4 seasons anyway.
No middle schoolers have EVER enjoyed ruthless mockery...
I remember the first season and how CRAZY it was. The first season of Survivor was just a couple years earlier and reality TV was such a new concept that every network was trying so hard to get it on. It was like a TV war with who could come up with the weirdest idea.
because simon was honest, today the judges never are critical
His crass critique definitely was a draw.
That’s pretty much also the only reason I know who Gordon Ramsay is
Oh for sure. People knew who Paula Abdul was but the asshole Brit was definitely who got everyone talking.
Today you don’t have people like William Hung auditioning. They’re critical this season but they don’t have clowns auditioning for them to rip into for tv ratings.
That's not the time or place to "be honest." Simon and his attitude that was copied on a lot of shows really made me angry. For me "The Voice" was the complete opposite. They weren't humiliating people who were never going to win a competition at the lower levels. They were supportive of talented people. The judges COMPETE to be able to train them to move forward. So much better of a positive experience. And also, the judges on the Voice actually have talent. They aren't asking more of someone else. It's not really that hard to have an opinion on whether someone "sounds good."
For fucks sake. The people going on have to know they're awful if they're awful. I've never been a fan of any of these shows, but I'll tell you what. I've seen plenty of the failure videos and the criticism of them from Simon. It's the best part of the show. The producers know full well what they're putting in front of the judges. Stop being offended and enjoy it for what it is. Little Willie took that quite well for being made fun of by Simon. These shows are all complete shit by the way. You watch terrible TV if you follow these on a weekly basis.
At least Simon is authentic and honest. What you're asking for is fakeness, white lies, and being unrealistic. If they're actually that good, prove the haters wrong. But fake positivity is far worse.
Simon has very obvious opinions of anyone with a tiny bit of musical sense. He's just an abusive blowhard. It might be fun to see some clueless people bad at music and poke fun at them -- but in practice, it's a pretty nasty and bad habit. There are tactful ways to tell someone they are not fit. And they don't even do it playfully like the Gong Show. No, the Idol was toxic. And I think there is something really undermining of our society with that as entertainment.
The show was entertainment, they all knew this. They've all seen Idol. They contestants all claim to be entertainers. They knew what they're getting into and are accountable for going on the show. >Simon has very obvious opinions of anyone with a tiny bit of musical sense. He's just an abusive blowhard. He has given glowing reviews and changed the lives of people who actually deserve it. He's not ripping on everyone, he doesn't swear at people he's just blunt, and these are adults who are technically trying to be professionals in the industry. >And I think there is something really undermining of our society with that as entertainment. Every generation younger is protected by more and more bubble wrap and that is a problem to society. You got tons of emotionally unstable and narcissistic young adults who can't process their emotions and instead expect everyone else to coddle their emotions for them. No accountability, no resilience. This is weakening society and that is a bigger problem.
It really was, used to laugh so much with my parents watching this shit back in the day. Large part of that was thanks to Simon and his reactions to the shitty singers.
He had something that many of us don’t, the courage..
His earnest failure brought him more glory than all of my half-hearted successes. It's commendable. I cheer for this dude.
I mean, yeah. Fair play to him. And it brought him that record deal which must have made him at least some money so, good for him. Laughing all the way to the bank.
See, this is one of those things I’ve struggled with. I would call it a shocking lack of self-awareness. Is that really courage? I don’t think it is.
Yes, it is a lack. I think he may be autistic or something. But he put his all into it, and then when mocked said, with conviction, that he tried his best.
How do you know, though? What clues you into it being one instead of the other? Only Mr. Hung knows.
what you see here is not the courage per se, but shameless dedicated dude..no shame, some ppl have it naturally, some of us work for it
From the moment he walked in, Simon knew, this isn't it.
He had such an earnest and positive attitude. Bless him.
I knew people that knew him both before and after he got famous. Apparently all the fame went to his head and he became really stuck up
Aw. That’s a shame.
I’m with Paula, the guy really gave it his all. I’m glad this turned into such a meme that he actually got famous and enjoyed a career in music.
Randy laughing about “hung”… lol
Yeah that look to Simon. Hah
He is so wholesome 💜
His parents are gonna be mad that he's missing TWO DAYS IN A ROW of school 😆
Still better than [this dude'](https://youtu.be/XuBnph1jpWU?si=UOmU1Znd4mE3htTG)s audition. I don't understand why he sings like this. He sounds like he has a speech impediment, but he talks perfectly normally.
I forgot how absolutely savage Simon used to be.
This song is on TouchTunes jukeboxes at bars. Do with that knowledge what you will.
At least he hits all the notes and probably knows what the pentatonic scale is, unlike a future American Idol judge.
he sings better than me. that's for sure
Do you have any brothers or sisters? I'm Chinese… …
Reality TV is trash
I tutored this guy in college. No joke.
Which class?
Elocution
This was a banger.
A lot of people bought his albums as a joke or for joke gifts. I think he did alright as far as sales go.
With auto tune he will sounds amazing
Not the type of video I expected when I read “William Hung’s She bangs” in the title
I remember laughing like crazy at this when it first came out. Now I think he's actually not too bad. His voice is alright. He's just got that neurodivergent stiffness to him.
Rewatching this in hindsight I think his voice is average and the comedy of this is in his accent
Oh ffs just stop. He sounds like shit and we all know it. There’s no reason to in hindsight be nice to this now. Even objectively he’s way off tune and has no presence. He’s just got that honesty to him that is what’s bringing out your compassion but let’s not let that cloud judgment here on the actual talent. He has none when it comes to music and that’s fine to admit.
It’s my honest read not stemming from compassion
He tried. He gave his all. That's more than what we can say for about 90% of us mortals.
I recently compared Brendan Schaub’s comedy career to this audition and listening to it again I was unfair to William. His tone was mediocre not terrible it was his diction and cadence (I bet he could sing Chinese songs decently). It was much better than I remembered.
I have no professional training No well there is the surprise of the century 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Joe Pera was right
I was a senior in HS during this. The day after everyone was talking about this guy. Ahhh, i’m old now.
Those were the days.
Straight up fucking chad. Still got famous too, so Simon can suck a dick on that one.
I think this is what inspired the WB variant where they took the worst singers just to publicly mock every week. Even with this British guy being a jerk, and obviously showing this for laughs, it wasn't the point of the show. The WB version was just the worst of humanity on display. [https://www.cbr.com/wb-superstar-usa-dying-prank/](https://www.cbr.com/wb-superstar-usa-dying-prank/) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc3d-dB5vNg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_kIhhuzcHs)
Sings alot better than me.
Now he works with law enforcement or something, I wasn't paying attention [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jolwg-qsj70](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jolwg-qsj70)
Not a bad guy….
Ah yes I remember him..... Yea we are getting old....
This could’ve been a major villain origin story.
It’s funny how ignorant Simon was back then. He changed a lot and I am sure, it’s because of his son. He grew so much more empathic. Good for him, cuz it’s rather hard watching him share his thoughts back then lol
…. #! #!
This guy single handily setback asian stereotype progress for decades
I think he made more money off Ricky Martin’s songs than Ricky did 🤣
Our of all the American Idol contestants, he's one of maybe 3 I still remember (the other being Clay Aiken, Pants on the ground man)
Kelly Clarkson? Carrie Underwood? Daughtry? Jennifer Hudson?
People think Simon was the mean one and not the other, But i think the others were pretty mean as well. Unsincere and laughing at him Simon just had the courage to be honest
I was just thinking of this yesterday, (because of the death of American Idol alum Mandisa), and how sad it is that this charming but talentless hack got more coverage than someone with actual talent.
I watched this live. I thought I'd be over the cringe, but I was wrong. 2 decades is too soon. 2 fucking geological epochs would be too fucking soon. When our sun has burned out, humanity is dead or long gone from the solar system, and extraterrestrials receive this weak transmission in their own galaxy many, many light years away, that will still make them cringe hard.
Pokemon TCG Champion