The last official weekend of my Summer o' Fun is well under way. Last night it started with chicken and beer and KARAOKE in K'town with the fun boys and girls of the trip to campaign for Obama last weekend in Las Vegas. A reunion of sorts. Yes that's how much fun we had! Tonight I went to a friend's bbq down in San Pedro. It's a party I've never had a chance to make it to because it's so far. But I decided to go this time, because I can't stay home any night during the last official Summer o' Fun weekend! That would be wrong! So I went to this party not sure if I'd know anyone there. I didn't really know anyone, but there was surprisingly karaoke to be had. And somehow I got into a spirited discussion over karaoke with the karaoke machine owner. The discussion (him: Karaoke is about listening to the song, the music and singing with it accurately; me: Karaoke is just about having fun and letting crazy energy out regardless of whether it sounds harmonious!) finally inspired me to write my Karaoke Manifesto!
1. First, the inventor of karaoke Daisuke Inoue is to be honored as a true genius. He was awarded with the Ig Noble Peace Prize at Harvard in 2004. However I believe he should have been awarded with the real Nobel Peace Prize, as his intention in the invention was to bring peace to the world through music!
2. Most of the time, Singing and Karaoke are mutually exclusive. In other words, about 90% of the time people who karaoke do not sing, and vice versa. Sometimes in the rare occasions, 10% of the time, people can simultaneously sing and karaoke. For example, I do not think I can sing. I do not try to sing, but I sure can karaoke! My friend M is truly a singer, but occasionally karaokes. Oftentimes, singers do not step to the mic at karaoke, probably because they don't want to put the karaoke'rs to shame. Karaoke requires a certain element of performance with the whole body. There must be dancing that goes along with the tune. In karaoke, it's important to ham it up. I love making people smile and laugh.
3. Confidence is key. You might not know any of the words to a song, but as long as you put your all into it... that's GOOD karaoke!
4. Song selections in karaoke say a lot about personality. Last night, I learned a lot about the folks on the Vegas trip. For instance, DF is really kinda shy. He never really picked a song to sing on his own. T, the high school history teacher, picked all these heavy metal, deeply disturbing songs (Metallica's Master of Puppets!?!?), and occasionally the emo masculine song. M, the legislative staffer, picked very sweet ballads. CC, the token gay guy, picked boy band songs. S, the sweet 3rd grade teacher, picked bubble gum type songs. (update:) Cindylu picked very entertaining songs that everyone could join in with. She's about community. My songs? They're all songs you can rock out and dance to. Lately I've really been digging Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone :)
5. Song selections in karaoke are often gendered. I also noticed that break up/heart break songs selected by men are often very emo and depressing like Brian McKnight's One Last Cry or Hoobastank's The Reason. Oh man... there were moments I think we all wanted to cry. On the other hand female break up songs are completely empowering and kinda angry in some respects. For example K. Clarkson's Since U Been Gone, Beyonce's Irreplaceable, and Alanis Morisette's You Oughta Know.
6. Rap songs are best when they are from at least 15 years ago and you can still get through at least 2 lines without the words. That criteria make the song a classic, and something you'll be able to perform well and get other people into it. Rap songs from the last 5 years should never be performed unless you can perform at least 2 lines that are not the hook of the song, without the words. Otherwise, it's not classic yet and most people, including yourself, won't know how to perform it. I'll include R&B songs in this rule. Example: Mariah Carey's Shake it off. Do you know any other line other than "Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake it off..." without the lyrics in front of you?
7. Have your 2 or 3 regular songs. Mine are currently Earth, Wind and Fire's September and Michael Jackson's Rock With You. Also, have a closing song. E and I have our closing song - Sarah Brightman's Time to Say Goodbye, which we came up with one time in SF. We now end every karaoke session with that song. 99% of the song is in Italian... so what? It's awesome!
Have fun! Ultimately, that is the key to karaoke. Don't worry about "singing." Just karaoke! If you can sing, bonus! If not... then be like the rest of us... have fun!!!
