Some perspective, please.

Hung showed up and auditioned, and took his lumps from the judges with a game face. I humbly submit that what people responded to was his simple response: "I have no formal training. I did my best. I have no regrets." Plenty of bad singers try out for that show, and you don't see labels lining up to sign 'em.

KOCH gave Hung $25,000 to make the record, which is nothing for a label/distribution network of their size, and given two-week sales of roughly 60,000 units, they've already made back their money and will end up in the black on this project. In other words, William Hung's little novelty disc will allow KOCH to sign more Abra Moores, which is nothing but a good thing in my book.

I really think those who seek to put a racist subtext on this thing are reaching. Hung isn't a short-bus kid, he's an engineering student at Berkeley (and judging from his website, also an incredibly savvy self-promoter). Nobody needs to shed any tears for young William.