Renaldo Lapuz, Virally Yours

You’d think a 45-year-old wouldn’t be able to maximize technology for his fifteen or so minutes of fame. Apparently one can, judging from American Idol wanted-to-be Renaldo Lapuz’s quick rise to fame.

His Dallas, Texas audition—which earned the Filipino-American a sincere hug from the surly Simon Cowell and instant international recognition—found extra mileage on YouTube, and, sooner than you can say “carabao English,” Renaldo’s on his way to being a star.

For how long, however, still remains to be seen. It can be recalled that the last anti-American Idol, er, idol, whom Renaldo has supposedly dethroned, was William Hung. The Chinese-American William—who was 21-year-old civil engineering student at the University of California, Berkeley when he auditioned for American Idol singing, of all songs, Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs”—was in the limelight for quite a bit after being rejected by Idol. His exchange with Simon and the other judges was also memorable.

After William’s performance, Simon said, “Well, you can’t sing, you can’t dance. What do you have to say for yourself?” He replied, “Um, I already gave my best, and I have no regrets at all.”

To which Paula Abdul remarked, “That’s the best attitude yet.” William continued, “You know, I have no professional training of singing and dancing.”

To which Simon rejoined, “No? Well, this is the surprise of the century.”

Since then, William has come out with three albums, inked several endorsement deals, appeared in numerous television shows, formed a band and gone on a concert tour, and starred in a movie.

I don’t know what he’s up to now, though. I googled him up, and found nothing recent. According to his MySpace account (www.myspace.com/williamhung), he last logged in on September 22, 2007.

This brings us back to the silver-caped-crusader Renaldo, who’s just beginning what could be a short-lived or lasting career, depending on how he plays his cards. A quick check on Google reveals there are about 117,000 hits on his name. He already has a (fake) Friendster account. He also has a (fake?) official website, on which you can watch related videos, read news updates, download “We’re Brothers Forever” as a ring tone, buy t-shirts (in XL, Large, or Small), leave messages, look at pictures, and view his television or radio guesting schedules.

Remixed or cover versions of Renaldo’s catchy song have sprouted all over the web. On YouTube alone, there is a growing collection—ranging from the inane (showing a collection of clips of people hugging other people, babies, toys, trees…) by user SiNDADDYROCKS, to the equally hilarious rendition of user komikero (the comic artist Gerry Alanguilan), to a quirky version of three children uploaded by thegeneral732003, to an actually pleasant acoustic remake of a singer named Eliot Bronson (user eliotbronson), who has an indie band called Brilliant Inventions. That last one, by the way, is a must-hear!

And then there are the lipsynching videos (most of them of someone’s daddy), the dancing videos (the most popular of which feature sexy cheerleaders), and your regular, run-of-the-mill, seemingly Powerpoint-created music videos.

No doubt about it. The Renaldo Lapuz virus is still spreading. I guess the song is that catchy. All together now: “I am your brother…”

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