William Hung Bio

A student at UC Berkeley, William Hung studies Civil Engineering, but he decided to pursue his dream of singing professionally, when he auditioned for TV's American Idol, singing and dancing to Ricky Martin's She Bangs. He was dropped from the contest before he completed the song, but his charm and attitude were a big hit with the viewing public, and the ensuing weeks brought a wave of articles, fan-mail and petitions calling to bring Hung back to the show, even as a guest commentator.

Hung was born in Hong Kong in 1983, and moved with his family to California when he was eleven years old. The fame brought on by his American Idol try-out has motivated him to take voice lessons, and he hopes to continue to sing semi-professionally. But, he has said, he won't drop out of school, or give up his plans to be a civil engineer.