Reynaldo Lapuz: From tricycle driver to your 'Brother Forever'

MANILA, Philippines - Proving that he could extend beyond that proverbial "15 minutes of fame," Filipino Reynaldo Lapuz returned to the hit franchise American Idol Season 7 to belt out anew his now-ubiquitous anthem during the show’s season finale Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila). Lapuz, upon invitation from the show’s producers, graced the Idol stage to sing his original composition, "We're Brothers Forever," in front of legions of American Idol fans at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. "How could we resist our friend, our brother, our best friend forever? You know, he will be with us 'til at least the news starts," excited host Ryan Seacrest declared, before introducing the gleeful Filipino singer. Donning his iconic feathered-cap and white-as-snow suit, Nevada-based Lapuz popped out of the stage chanting his masterpiece composition in a capella. A few lines into the song then boom! Stage lights exploded in brightness as the orchestra suddenly accompanied Lapuz’s voice while a marching band complete with cheer dancers made their way to the stage. Not long enough, Seacrest as well as Idol judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson found themselves stomping and jiggying with Reynaldo up on stage. English judge Simon Cowell, opted to remain on his seat the entire time. The highly-anticipated two-hour finale saw contestant David Cook “knocking-out" his namesake, crooner David Archuleta. By shoring up 12 million votes more than his rival, the 25-year-old rocker was rightfully crowned the 7th American Idol. Among the show’s highlights was an obvious sequel of last year’s virtual duet between Canadian songstress Celine Dion and the late King Elvis Presley. Through digital technology at its finest, the show’s producers smacked goofy trio Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr into a 1972 performance of Gladys Knight. Still, the imagery created by digital geniuses seemed to pale in comparison to Lapuz's glitzy, glittery number. Lapuz, a former tricycle driver from Marikina City, skyrocketed to fame after he delivered an over-the-top performance of “We're Brothers Forever," which he specifically penned for sharp-tongued Cowell, during the auditions of the seventh season of the hit reality-based competition. Despite being unable to sail through to Hollywood in the auditions, Lapuz nevertheless on Wednesday night emerged triumphant after he shared the same stage with music’s biggest names like country superstar and AI Season 4 champ Carrie Underwood, British pop icon George Michael, 70's disco diva Donna Summer, and Canadian rocker Bryan Adams among others. The flamboyant Nevada-based Filipino has already become an instant Internet sensation, spawning fans all over the world to remix his infectious song, “We’re Brothers Forever." Reynaldo’s AI Season 7 audition piece was once the top favorite of the week, with more than 6,000 hits in the video sharing Web site, YouTube. In fact, his audition piece has become so popular that about five of his now famous video clips landed in the top 10 most favorite for the week, totaling to about 21,000 favorites last January 23. Since it was uploaded on January 16, Reynaldo’s seven-minute video has attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers. Reynaldo fever Throngs of Reynaldo-admirers filled the missing music to his power-ballad song. Elliot Bronson strummed his guitar providing an acoustic theme to Reynaldo’s signature song, while fellow YouTube user, Rocko, added Pinoy beatbox to give the song a more upbeat hip-hop sound. But perhaps one of the standout remixes to “We’re Brothers Forever" is the hypnotic Dance Remix, where two American cheerleaders, complete with matching silver pompoms, are seen gyrating to Reynaldo’s song. These video clips and more can now be seen on Reynaldo’s official fansite: www.renaldolapuz.com The Reynaldo interview "While I was watching, I felt nervous, like doing the audition again," Reynaldo said in an interview with local Dallas TV network, FOX 4. "Over-to-the-maximum of happiness, really," Reynaldo said, describing his feeling after the auditions. Reynaldo is optimistic that his AI stint is only the beginning of more blessings in his life, and perhaps, career. "Hopefully it would be a continuous progress. I expect, you know, blessings…," he said. According to Reynaldo, the hit song he wrote for Cowell, was meant to spread the word that Simon is a good person who spends millions of dollars just to look for a new talent. Early on in the audition, Simon was unimpressed with Reynaldo, until later, when the terror-judge began waving his hands as if conducting the Filipino singer. Fellow AI judge Jackson became so amused that he called in AI host Seacrest to listen in on Reynaldo's performance, while judge Abdul danced like a 60's go-go dancer. No age limit? Reynaldo said his friends prodded him to join the AI auditions. "Hey Brother Rey, why don’t you join American Idol?" Reynaldo recalled his friends telling him. "There’s no age-limit, check it again", his friends told him, amid Reynaldo’s hesitation. AI only accepts aspiring singers who are not more than 28 years old. Reynaldo turned 45 last December 18. The ‘Flash’ outfit Even before Reynaldo walked in the audition room, Seacrest immediately noticed his outrageous white flashy ensemble. “I don’t know what to wear, because in the paper it states dress to impress," Reynaldo said. In the interview, he confessed that it took him two weeks to prepare his costume, inspired by comics hero, Flash, and the film “Gladiator." But for his feathered cowboy hat, Reynaldo said Elton John’s 1969 hit “Skyline Pigeon" was his inspiration. “That’s it! That’s what made the whole outfit," he said. - with reports from Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV