Yoji Asano, best known for his ill-fated singing attempt on "American Idol" in 2011, has been charged with trying to rape a woman in New York City.
Authorities arrested Asano, 29, last week and charged him with attempted rape and attempted sexual assault,
according to the New York Post. He is accused of assaulting a female friend in her bedroom in her Manhattan apartment last August, authorities told the Post.
Police charged that Asano threw the woman on the bed, pinned her down and tried to rape her. When she complained that he was "hurting her," he jumped off and went to the kitchen for a glass of wine, sources told the New York Post.
The New York Daily News reported, though, that woman allowed Asano to "crash at her apartment" in August when he "allegedly crept into her bedroom, laid on top of her and attempted to have sex with her," according to police sources.
Police sources told the Daily News that Asano then ran out of the building after the victim fought him off.
Asano spent the weekend at Riker's Island until he posted his $2,500 bail on Monday. He had been expected to appear in criminal court on Tuesday.
Asano's "American Idol" audition became a viral hit after his off-key performance to Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA," wrote the Post. Asano, who called himself the Japanese King of Pop at the time after his idol Michael Jackson, was laughed off stage by judges Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson after the performance, noted the Post.
Some believed Asano could be the next William Hung, the 2004 "American Idol" contestant whose mangled performance of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" during the show audition went viral and made him famous, according to the Post.
Despite the poor performance, Hung snagged a recording contract, released several albums before leaving music and is now an administrative assistant for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health,
according to People magazine.
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