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By now everyone who reads my column knows I’m not a big fan of reality shows, but the other night I happen to watch “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and she had on one of the rejects from “American Idol.” His name was William Hung; he was a young Chinese man who may appear by some as geeky with buck teeth. When he sang his first of four songs, Ricky Martins “She Bangs,” I had a quick understanding of why he was rejected, yet there was something about this young man that was very appealing. By the time he finished his fourth song, Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” I was really impressed with him. He has absolutely no singing talent but a great attitude towards life and tons of charisma. He really doesn’t care if he has any talent but he loves performing and really gives it his all just for the love of it.

When I watched Hung sing “She Bangs” I was concerned that the viewers were just making fun of him. To me that wasn’t funny but as he performed you could see he was happy with who he was and just had fun with making people happy.

William Hung is a student in civil engineering at the University of California and school is still his priority. He is overwhelmed by all the attention and admits that music is still his long-term goal and hopes to make his living at it. Hung is taking singing lessons and has joined a university choir. Whether or not he makes it as a pop star you have to give him credit for trying.

One reason I was never a fan of “American Idol” is because I don’t feel giving these performers instant fame is the way to go. They should have to work their way up like all the rest of the performers. It prepares them a little better for all the obstacles they will have to face. Fame is hard to handle even when you have to work your way up the hard way. What’s going to happen to all these kids when their popularity disappears and they come back down to earth; will they be able to handle it?

The second reason I don’t like the show is the obnoxious, Simon Cowell. I know many of my readers believe he makes the show, but what has our society come too when hurting someone’s feelings is funny. True when these contestants audition for the show they know what they’re getting into, but what is this teaching our kids?

Cowell told Hung; “You can’t sing, you can’t dance, so what do you want me to say?”

Hung replied; “I already gave my best, and I have no regrets at all.”

Actually this was probably the nicest thing that he has said to a rejected performer; I heard he can get a lot more insulting.

The actual concept of the show could be entertaining but then the ratings wouldn’t be that great, so what does that say about the viewers of “American Idol.” We love to hurt people, see them degraded; that’s entertainment. The more blood, the more violence, the more sex, the joy of hurting someone’s feelings; that’s what gets ratings; no wonder the networks go after the younger demographics.

The sad part of all the attention that Hung is getting is that FOX will come out the winner. They already have invited Hung back for a special “American Idol” show” called “Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented” and are using footage of Hung’s now-famous audition to promote the episode.

As for William Hung I wish him all the success he can accomplish but I hope he continues his schooling.

When I first heard the name William Hung I was fascinated by the resemblance it had to a Viewers Voice member that attended our conference. Her last name was also Hung and she also had no talent. She seriously thought she could sing and dance and wanted to perform at our Awards Banquet.

I was resting one afternoon in our Hotel room when Viewers Voice vice president, Karla Johnson woke me up because Ms. Hung wanted to audition for me. Half asleep I went over to the banquet hall to watch this older lady perform her song and dance routine. It was my worst nightmare; I kept thinking Karla was trying to pull one over on me. I certainly am not an authority on talent but even I could see it was bad. There was no way I could let her perform at our Awards Banquet, what would our guests think of our organization. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings so I told her she could perform for our members after the banquet because we really didn’t have entertainment at our awards event; she agreed.

Sometimes after our banquets when all the quests leave our members will entertain us in good humored fun, this is our way of letting out all the tension of the week. Of course they know they don’t have any talent and everything is done for laughs.

Now if you can imagine this older lady who weighed around three hundred pounds and wore a derby hat and had a cane, dancing around the floor and seriously thinking she had talent, then you will understand what a position it put our members in. They kept a serious look on their face, practically choking themselves to death trying not to laugh, but the point is they didn’t hurt her feelings. She thought she had talent and good for her as long as she enjoyed herself. She actually came back and performed for us the following year. She is no longer a Viewers Voice member, but not because our members didn’t treat her with respect but because she was looking for a better outlet to become famous.

William Hung thinks he has talent and I wish him tons of success, as for the famous (blank) Hung I wouldn’t be surprised to see her on “American Idol.” Until my next column, let your voice be heard.