Renaldo Lapuz

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Renaldo Lapuz


Img_capt =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name =
Born = birth date and age|1962|12|18
Manila, Philippines
Origin = Dallas, Texas, United States
Genre = Pop
Occupation = Musician, singer-songwriter
Years_active = 2007—present
Label =
URL =

Renaldo Lapuz (born December 18, 1962) is a American who auditioned on the seventh season of the television series "American Idol", singing the self-written song "We're Brothers Forever." He is half German half Chinese Filipino.

Biography

Lapuz appeared on seventh season as a contestant for the show and as a finale performer. For both performances he sang his own original song "We're Brothers Forever." On the audition for American Idol, he wore a white cowboy hat with the word "SIMON" printed on it. He made this hat by himself. He also wore a metallic silver cape. During his audition, which aired in January, judge Simon Cowell said of his performance "I'm going to make a prediction here. I have a horrible feeling that it's going to be a hit record. You're very entertaining. I actually like you but it's going to be a no," which meant that he was rejected. [ [http://fielsvd.blogspot.com/2008/01/reynaldo-lapuz-from-tricycle-driver-to.html Missionary Journey] ] Then Lapuz played the song during the Finale of "American Idol" Season 7 in May 2008, supported by the University of Southern California marching band.

In February 2008, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that a major label with local operations was trying to locate Lapuz for "a possible recording deal". [ [http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20080206-117218/Possible-record-deal-for-Renaldo Possible record deal for Renaldo - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos ] ]

Subsequently, Lapuz's original video of him singing 'We're Brothers forever' was added to iTunes as a free download.

Lapuz was a native of the Philippines, but his mother was of German descent and lives in Wisconsin. Lapuz immigrated to the United States in 2004, and worked as a janitor at Greyhound and Wal-mart. In 2007 Renaldo Lapuz auditioned for "American Idol" in Dallas, Texas. [ [http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=124&a=26160&sp=1 asian journal] ]

Lapuz regularly sang as a member of the Filipino Choir at Immaculate Conception Church in Reno, Nevada. [http://www.icchurch.net/]

Internet popularity

Lapuz's "American Idol" Season 7 audition piece was a favorite on video sites, with more than 63.2 million hits in the video sharing website YouTube, the first of which being so popular that it generated a cease and desist letter from News Corp.. Subsequent releases have received more than 3,640,100 hits. His audition piece has become so popular that about five of his now famous video clips have landed in the top 10 most favorite for the week, totaling to about 3,050,000 favorites as of posting time. Since it was uploaded on January 16, Lapuz's seven-minute video has attracted more than 41,570,000 views (as of 11 pm, Tuesday, May 20, 2008), which is also among the top views in YouTube for the week. [ [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/77617/Whoa-AI-auditionee-Reynaldo-Lapuz-now-an-Internet-hit Whoa! AI auditionee, Reynaldo Lapuz, now an Internet hit] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.renaldolapuz.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.renaldolapuzringtone.we.bs Official Ringtone]