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Christopher R. Weingarten

The 50 Worst Songs of the '00s, F2K No. 16: William Hung, "O Come All Ye Faithful"

By Christopher Weingarten, Thursday, Dec. 10 2009 @ 2:00PM
Comments (17)
Categories: F2K, Featured

F2K is a countdown of the 50 worst songs of the decade. Track our progress here.

williamhung.jpg
So bad it's not even on YouTube. Hear a preview here.
​
The worst American Idol contestant (after Daughtry) wins your mom's heart--and then pisses on a church.

William Hung is the most famous face in American Idol's decade-long campaign to elevate pathetic weirdos from local eccentrics into national laughingstocks. America's never-ending desire to prey on misdirected confidence and laugh at accents different from ours came to a fever pitch in 2004, when some sweet kid from Jersey-via-Hong-Kong made the mistake of appearing on TV for two minutes.

This freak show worked in reverse: First we laughed and then we spent money. William Hung's off-key warbling on Idol became a national sensation. He quickly made the talk show rounds, soaked up what little spotlight was available for "professional song ruiner" and even pressed a real CD released by a real label. Hell, your shitty band couldn't even do that! His debut album, 2004's Inspiration peaked at No. 34 on Billboard, and was pretty much the biggest coup for outsider art since Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki.

But, honestly, fuck all that. You want some proof that we're not ready to live in a "post-racial America"? How about the fact Hung was and remains America's biggest Asian male pop star since the days of Don Ho (who was, like, only part Chinese)--and Hung's popularity was pretty much based on the YouTube generation conceit of "laugh and point."

Before his 2004 debut became the used bin staple of 2005, his record label was not content to let Hung tunelessly whistle his way back into obscurity. Enter Hung For The Holidays, a 17-minute cash-in CD and unmissed opportunity for a dick joke. Featuring nine tracks of Hung mutilating Christmas classics, there's more sacrilege peppering this thing than your average Rotting Christ album. Hung's version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" is the kicker, a fiery reality star rocket sent via TV to the heart of middle America that pretty much takes all the Jesus stuff in the hymn and basically laughs at it. Next up? "I like turtles" kid reads the Bible!

The 50 Worst Songs of the '00s, the Complete List

50. brokeNCYDE, "Bree Bree"
49. LL Cool J feat. Jennifer Lopez, "Control Myself"
48. The Moldy Peaches, "Who's Got The Crack"
47. Akon, "Sorry, Blame It On Me"
46. Dynamite Hack, "Boyz-N-The-Hood"
45. James Blunt, "You're Beautiful"
44. Aaron Carter, "America A O"
43. Basshunter, "Please Don't Go"
42. 3 Doors Down, "Kryptonite"
41. Vanessa Hudgens, "Sneakernight"
40. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and the Wu-Tang Clan, "For Heaven's Sake 2000"
39. Aubrey O'Day feat. Roscoe Umali, "Never Fallin'"
38. Say Anything, "Got Your Money"
37. Satellite Party feat. Jim Morrison, "Woman In The Window"
36. Lady Sovereign, "Food Play"
35. Hampton The Hamster, "The Hampsterdance Song"
34. Happy Mondays, "Jelly Bean"
33. Heidi Montag, "Higher"
32. Smash Mouth, "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)"
31. 50 Cent, "Amusement Park"
30. Swizz Beatz with Ja Rule and Metallica, "We Did It Again"
29. John Mayer, "Your Body Is A Wonderland"
28. Xiu Xiu, "Support Our Troops OH (Black Angels OH)"
27. Kelly Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne, "Changes"
26. Beastie Boys, "In A World Gone Mad"
25. Weezer, "Heart Songs"
24. Gummibar, "I Am Your Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song)"
23. Santana feat. Chad Kroeger, "Into The Night"
22. The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Bob Marley, "Hold Ya Head"
21. Crazy Frog, "Last Christmas"
20. Gym Class Heroes, "Taxi Driver"
19. Nickelback, "Something In Your Mouth"
18. Toby Keith, "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)"
17. Simple Plan, "Perfect"
16. William Hung, "O Come All Ye Faithful"
15. Hinder, "Born To Be Wild"
14. Korn, "Ya'll Want A Single?"
13. Sugababes Vs. Girls Aloud, "Walk This Way"
12. Disturbed, "Land of Confusion"
11. Darryl Worley, "Have You Forgotten?"
10. Fieldy's Dreams, "Baby Hugh Hef"
9. Ashlee Simpson, "La La"
8. Limp Bizkit and Johnny Rzeznik, "Wish You Were Here"
7. Nicole Scherzinger, "Puakenikeni"
6. Hot Action Cop, "Fever For The Flava"
5. Alvin & The Chipmunks, "Get Munk'd"
4. Blue October, "Jump Rope"
3. Tila Tequila, "I Love U"
2. Artists Against AIDS Worldwide, "What's Goin' On (Fred Durst's Reality Check Mix)"
1. Counting Crows ft. Vanessa Carlton, "Big Yellow Taxi"

50 - 31 were originally published on Idolator.com

Comments (17) Write Comment
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Related Content

  • Letters April 6, 2004
  • NY Mirror April 27, 2004
  • Hung Out to Dry March 30, 2004
  • Letters May 18, 2004
  • American Idol Season 9, Top 12 vs. the Rolling Stones: Siobhan Magnus Turns Into An Awesome Goblin; Tim Urban Carnival Cruises Through "Under My Thumb" March 17, 2010

More About:

  • William Hung
  • American Idol
  • Daughtry (Band)
  • Television
  • Reality Shows

Comments (17)

G3K says:

Assuming we're not narrowly defining "Asian" as "the ones with the squinty eyes", doesn't Jay Sean count?

Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 10 2009 @ 3:36PM
G3K says:

(as "America's biggest Asian male pop star")

Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 10 2009 @ 3:57PM
Loki Motive says:

"Pisses on a church"
So he's, like, the opposite of Burzum?

Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 10 2009 @ 6:45PM
Paul says:

Moldy Peaches on this list makes it a fail

Posted On: Tuesday, Dec. 22 2009 @ 8:20PM
Anonymous says:

you missed another John Mayer song, "Say" - wretched

Posted On: Tuesday, Dec. 22 2009 @ 8:55PM
Anonymous says:

Black Eyed Peas are not on this list?

How am I supposed to take it seriously then?

this list is gonna be a good list... no not really.

Posted On: Tuesday, Dec. 22 2009 @ 8:59PM
Anonymous says:

Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers didn't even make the list?

Posted On: Tuesday, Dec. 22 2009 @ 10:58PM
tada says:

Really.. counting crows has the worst song of the 00s.. this is not a very good list..

Posted On: Tuesday, Dec. 22 2009 @ 11:25PM
Joe says:

What about Paul Stanley's "Live to Win"?

Posted On: Wednesday, Dec. 23 2009 @ 12:19AM
Rafael Chon says:

You could have just included Nickelback's entire discography and you'd have been alright.

Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 24 2009 @ 2:12AM
Pete says:

I can only imagine you didn't get Sandi Thom in America. She had a UK number 1 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker With Flowers In My Hair'. There's some good calls in that list, but Ms Thom would make that entire 50 tracks look like the tracklisting for the Beatles Blue Album...

Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 24 2009 @ 8:32AM
John Mickey Factz Schilling says:

Much appreciate for this post. Makes me think about my fave hip hop artist Mickey Factz who's raps is a crowd pleaser!

Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 31 2009 @ 7:05PM
Alfredo Kusinski says:

I know this is really boring and you are skipping to the next comment, but I just wanted to throw you a big thanks - you cleared up some things for me!

Posted On: Friday, Jan. 1 2010 @ 8:00PM
Anonymous says:

Free proxies for everyone. There are lots of proxies out there, but the best one is Unblock Myspace

Posted On: Monday, Jan. 11 2010 @ 11:24PM
Socorro Mears says:

I like Lindsay! She is really a wonderful actress and I wish all the haters would shut up. But I am kinda sad that she is a drug addict. Someone should give her some fancy so she will get her life under control!

Posted On: Wednesday, Jan. 27 2010 @ 10:42PM
Erwin Stromyer says:

This is EXACTLY what i was looking for the other day! Thanks for the great post

Posted On: Thursday, Feb. 4 2010 @ 2:55AM
Cathie Artez says:

Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion. If more of us used your line of thinking, the world would be a better place.

Posted On: Thursday, Feb. 4 2010 @ 6:43AM

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