Renaldo Lapuz talks about his American Idol audition with Simon Cowell

When I first saw the YouTube video clip of 44-year old Renaldo Lapuz’s “Gladiator” themed appearance for his American Idol audition, I went through a gamut of emotions. Incredulity, amusement, embarrassment, and then — appreciation. You see, Simon Cowell (and the rest of the American Idol group) understood that by giving Renaldo an audition, he was thinking outside the box and about the millions of people who aspire to make their dreams come true. Who knows what’s going to happen to Renaldo. He seems to exude innocence (the word isn’t naivete) about his admiration for Simon Cowell. It’s refreshing to experience Renaldo’s sweet generosity, innate spirituality, and courage to sing at an audition. A strong voice, an anthem-like original song for the interview… what else can you ask for? I don’t think Renaldo knows that he is a natural comedian. Let’s give this Filipino the 15 minutes of fame he deserves. He’s the “common tao” (ordinary people) who has been given an extraordinary opportunity to share with people: “If I don’t try, I will never know what I’m capable of.”

Click here to go directly to YouTube.com.

Here’s the actual audition. Click here to go directly to YouTube.com.