I love Christmas music as much as anyone else, but it’s no secret that hearing the same holiday hits can become as repetitive as watching Ralphie shoot his eye out for 24 hours. To combat this, record companies frequently release fresh interpretations of classic tunes in order to give listeners a little more variety when it comes to tradition.
Some are great, like the Temptations’ version of “Silent Night” or Lady Gaga’s cover of “O Christmas Tree.” Others, like Justin Bieber’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” aren’t as memorable, but are still a nice change in pace.
Then, there’s whatever travesty upon music that William Hung managed to release to an unsuspecting public. The walking “American Idol” meme’s Christmas album, “Hung for the Holidays” (gag), was released during the peak of his “popularity” in 2004, and still manages to make me nauseated to this day.
What did we do to deserve this? Hung’s “Idol” audition was funny at the time, but signing him to a record deal is basically subjecting people to torture. I’d rather listen to Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer rap “Little Drummer Boy” than hear Hung’s terribly tone-deaf rendition.
Thankfully, Hung’s star fell not-too-long after this yuletide disaster hit the stores, but the fact remains that we can never allow something like this to happen again. You may complain about hearing the Chipmunks warble on repeat in department stores, but be thankful it’s not William Hung.
