William Hung Sings ‘She Bangs’ On ‘American Idol’ For Finale

William Hung returned to the American Idol, this time on stage, on the iconic show’s last night, donning purple ruffles and singing the cover that made him famous, Ricky Martin‘s “She Bangs.” It has been a decade since Hung appeared on Idol’s joke reel for auditions, with Simon Cowell scathingly telling him, “You can’t sing, you can’t dance, so what do you want me to say?” But on social media, Hung was a star, a viral sensation. Hung got his time in the spotlight on talk shows and appeared for the midseason special Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented.

Hung’s appearance brought back memories of when Idol was such a great influencer that even the rejects got record deals.

In his initial audition he was a student at UC Berkeley.

“It’s kind of odd that I chose to even audition in the first place, because my major is civil engineering which is totally not related to music,” explained Hung. “But I really like music. I want to make music my living.”

His reappearance though reminded many of the discomfort of Hung’s popularity. The hilarity of his performance is rooted in Asian-American stereotypes which Vulture‘s E. Alex Jung points out perpetrates the feeling that “the only way an Asian American male could be famous [is] through martial arts of buffoonery.”