Fil-Am is new William Hung
A Web star is born
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:56:00 01/20/2008
Filed Under: Television, Entertainment (general)
MANILA, Philippines - Pimp wizard. Modern-day Liberace. The new William Hung. Worldwide superstar.
Minutes after the airing of the “American Idol” audition of 44-year-old Renaldo Lapuz, the Internet was abuzz with comments, alternately loving and livid, posted by fans.
With his feathered hat, quilted blazer and silver cape, Lapuz, dubbed “Pinoy” by bloggers, charmed the three judges—Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and his idol Simon Cowell—with his original composition “We’re Brothers Forever.”
The usually vitriolic Cowell quipped: “I have a horrible feeling that it’s going to be a hit record.”
One Netizen claimed AI producers devoted 11 minutes to Lapuz. Another claimed he was the “highlight” of the Dallas tryouts, the reality contest’s second episode for season 7.
Googling his name now leads to various sites—including the purported “official” web page of the “songwriter” from Reno, Nevada.
The homepage, which got hits from 20 countries on its first day, Thursday (Manila time), is hawking T-shirts to raise funds for “Big Brothers, Big Sisters.” The site itself is up for sale, with “50 percent going to charity.”
A blogger predicted that Lapuz would be given a spot number in the AI grand finale.
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