"I always suspected there were other karaoke fiends out there..." - Brian Raferty
It is the night of my contest. All alone, I walk nervously into the dimly-lit dive bar on the West side of town. I instantly recognize the faces of my competition. My tight skirt and high heels are perfect for my song choice, "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Glady's Knight. As I step closer to the table where all the singers are sitting, I notice what they are wearing; jewelry, glitter, sequins. I think, how tacky and delightful! Questions race through my mind such as: What song are they singing? Are they going to sing the same song as I am? What happens if I forget the words? Suddenly, a familiar voice calls my name, breaking my train of thought. It is my karaoke rival, Kendra. This familiarity helps me feel at ease. As the contest continues throughout the night, the group of singer's cheer each other on. We exchange high fives, critique each others songs and give advice. I feel like i'm part of the group, even though I am actually all alone. This, I thought, is what it's all about.
Karaoke has enabled me to show off my creativity, talent and confidence while blossoming into a better person, singer and songwriter, but all this wouldn't have been possible without this audience that I mentioned in the story above. I call this audience the "Karaoke Community". Sometimes for me though, it is hard to find people to cheer me along at the contests, which is why I show up alone so many times. In Brian Raftery's book: How Karaoke Conquered the World and Changed My Life, he touches on the same feeling I get when I invite people to watch me, he says, "I'd often invited coworkers or casual acquaintances to come along with us, and they usually looked at me as though I'd just asked them to help officiate a cockfight". This is so true! It's almost as if the mere mention of "karaoke" makes people run for the hills, but compare it to a cockfight? I'm sure people would rather do that! Has karaoke gotten that bad of a rap that people are embarrassed to come watch? Or are they scared to join because they know it will lure them in fill their greatest guilty-pleasure's?
The karaoke community is made up of more than just the karaoke singer's themselves; it also includes family, friends and fan's alike. I consider anyone who follows karaoke or just enjoys going out regularly to a karaoke bar to be part of the community. If i've seen you more than once (you know who you are), then you are also part of the community. It's like we all remember the songs, faces, and outfits of our rivals. Sometimes I even tailor my performance depending on who I think is going to show up. For example, if my karaoke counterparts are singing a slow country song, I will definitely choose a fast-paced rock song to "wow" the judges. Also, if I know I've placed higher than some of the singers that will probably be there, I will keep the same song i've beaten them with before. This karaoke community allows you to push harder and strategize.
"Karaoke requires the willingness to be enterained by strangers", says Raferty. This is also true for me, but these so-called strangers are turning out to be my friends just as I am starting to become part of the community. I look forward to watching certain people on stage. Some of these singers are my biggest competition and some of them are ear-screaching fools, but either way, they are there for the joy that karaoke brings. There is nothing like stepping up on stage to sing your favorite songs in front of people that love doing the same thing you and support you all the way. Now, if only I could get my friends to start singing instead of watching...
Until next time,
Maryoke
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI'll be totally honest, I was a bit skeptical about how much depth their could be to the topic of karaoke, I suppose I'm one of those ignorant people you've described a couple times in the blog so far. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see several similarities between your topic and mine, stand-up comedy. The way you talk about the "karaoke community" is nearly the same way comics talk about the "comedy community." Using Raferty's words help make the blog feel less like some person that just has fun on karaoke nights, and more like someone exploring karaoke because they love it.
Just a few brief criticisms: first of which is that you could probably do a bit more with the narrative of each post. I feel like you start talking about specific examples and anecdotes, then abandon them to make a more broad statement. And second, easy on the exclamation points. I know it sounds like I'm picking nits, but I see exclamation points as a generic way of showing enthusiasm. You are clearly a good enough writer to show your love for karaoke in a more distinct way.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the blog and I'll definitely keep track of it from here on out. Good luck the rest of the way. Also, you chose my favorite Gladys Knight song, I'm interested to find out how it went.