“You suck ass, my dog could sing better than that.” “I think my ears are bleeding…” “Are you a troll or are you really singing?” These are three of the top comments on Put Dejudom’s YouTube videos.
Twenty-year-old Put Dejudom is a foreign exchange student at BU from Bangkok, Thailand. Back home, Put has experienced what it is like to be a celebrity because of the fame of his YouTube singing videos. His most famous video, a cover of the Thai song “For What ” has gained a total of 2.4 million views and has been on national Thai television. I had the chance to ask Put about how his celeb status came to be. Please note his English may not be the best.
“I started singing [on YouTube] during senior year [of] high school. I started to become famous after I did YouTube for six months,” he said. “Some company contact[ed] me to sing live. It is almost two years and six months on YouTube singing. It is all singing videos that people like to watch.”
From junior to senior year of high school, Put made videos of himself playing the piano. Having had five years of piano lessons, he is a very talented pianist, but these videos brought him no fame. “Before those six months [of singing on Youtube, there was] nothing at all. No work. Nothing.”
Put also spoke about being recognized in Bangkok. “People treat me pretty awesome,” he said. “Sometimes they laugh, sometimes they look amused. Sometimes they come to say that ‘you are my idol’ or ask how to become famous. Those who want [a] music career ask for advice. The worst they do in person is laugh and run away.” Many people stop him and ask for a photo as well.
While Put gets recognized around the Bangkok area every time he leaves his house, he receives little recognition in Binghamton. In his three semesters here, he has only been recognized about fifteen times, usually at frat parties. On campus, he has been asked for photos only four times.
Nonetheless, Put is often asked to appear or perform back home. He mentioned the time he made the most money from doing so. “The most is [when I appeared for] 2 hours in Thailand’s most famous show. It is like American Idol. I sing like 20 minutes and get $400.”
As previously shown, however, Put has many negative comments and dislikes on his popular videos. How does he respond? “I feel bad and there was a time that I stop[ped] posting for a month in the past. I think that I’m not that good, average . . . probably can be better with more practice.”
But what is Put like in real life? He is just a simple student like you and me. On an average day, Put can be found in his Newing dorm room studying for classes in his actuarial sciences major. In his spare time, he enjoys singing, watching YouTube videos, and listening to music with pop, R&B, and rap as his favorite genres. Like most students, Put enjoys being in college because of the independence he gets away from home. In the future, he hopes to become a businessman and continue singing as a part-time job.
What advice does Put Dejudom have for aspiring singers? “My advice is practice a lot. Listen to other people[’s] advice but [you] don’t need to care about haters because haters going to hate.”