I have found my true American Idol. It is not any of the past idols like Kelly, Ruben, Clay or Justin. His name is William Hung.

Yeah, laugh if you want. For those of you who are unenlightened, Hung is the infamous reject from the hit reality TV series, “American Idol.” His audition for the show was, well, it wasn’t exactly great. In fact, it was terrible.

Hung cannot carry a tune or keep a beat to save his life. He was put on the show simply to be laughed at. He’s one of those people the public loves to hate. Yet, his performance has mesmerized me; there’s just something about him.

With the publicity and fan sites Hung has gained since his appearance on “American Idol,” I’m obviously not the only one who’s under Hung’s spell. I ask myself over and over again, why is this man’s performance so captivating?

Are we such a cruel and insecure society that we need some poor loser to pick on? Well, that may be true in some cases, but I have a different answer. I believe that deep down, we all secretly admire Hung because of his courage. I also believe that deep down, we are all similar to Hung.

Let me elaborate. Hung has been dissed, laughed at, teased and humiliated on national television. Has that stopped him? No, he has willingly performed on talk shows since his broadcast dismissal on “American Idol.”

Hung has performed an incredible act of bravery, especially when you consider his lack of talent. It is even more incredible that he has even thought of pursuing a career in which he is clearly unskilled.

Above all, the most incredible aspect of Hung is that he has been successful. Who doesn’t admire that? I also want to note that Hung took his rejection well. He did not cuss or cry when the “American Idol” judges turned him down.

He even admitted to having no vocal training, saying “I did my best, I have no regrets at all.” He was complimented for having a good attitude, that could be another reason why he is so appealing. He seems to have an easygoing personality.

Of course, you could argue that this is just Hung’s 15 minutes of fame. It is not unlikely that after a month or two nobody will remember or care about who Hung is. But maybe 15 minutes of fame is all that Hung really wanted.

Another theory I have about Hung is that he is an excellent representation of mankind.

Yes he is. Although we try as hard as we can to publicize the manufactured beautiful and talented people, we all know that in reality Hung is a much better reflection of ourselves than someone like Christina Aguilera will ever be.

If the average American stepped onto a stage and was given a microphone, he or she might not look or sound too different from Hung.

We can laugh at Hung and be embarrassed by him (or for him), or we could applaud, be proud of him. and give him a standing ovation.

At least he had the guts to try. We can celebrate the fact that at least one of us is willing to show off imperfections and gets stardom for it.

William Hung, I salute you.