MetaChat REGISTER   ||   LOGIN   ||   IMAGES ARE OFF   ||   RECENT COMMENTS




artphoto by splunge
artphoto by TheophileEscargot
artphoto by Kronos_to_Earth
artphoto by ethylene

Home

About

Search

Archives

Mecha Wiki

Metachat Eye

Emcee

IRC Channels

IRC FAQ


 RSS


Comment Feed:

RSS

02 March 2008

Last night I confronted a fear. [More:] Not conquered, confronted. I sang karaoke for the first and last time. I was at a 40th birthday party, so it was a friendly crowd. I sucked, which I knew I would, but what I learned is, if everyone was good at it, it'd be pretty boring. A karaoke session needs it's charming buffoons. The crowd and my singer friend (a ringer) on back up mike helped me out. I redeemed myself with a dance break and a "we all have different gifts" comment.

Let it be writ down: Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler.

Longest four minutes of my life.
I guess we all have things we know but deny in ourselves. I know I can't sing, but time will go by or I'll be singing along with something on the radio and I'll think - naah, I'm arright. I just THINK I can't sing because I'm scared. I got an A Minus in Voice in college! Or for example you tell yourself you can see without your glasses well enough to get by, then run into the whole kitchen table dead on the way to the coffee maker. These things are gifts - defining moments. I'm liberated. I can't sing. I haven't run into the kitchen table yet, though. Hee.
posted by rainbaby 02 March | 09:59
The mirror to that is going up on stage, thinking one has some talent and performing ability, then totally bombing, to the point that the 3 whatever minutes up there are the longest of one's life.

Done that one. More than once.
posted by danf 02 March | 10:23
My favoritest ever karaoke moment was listening to an older man belt out "Total Eclipse of the Heart" not only loudly and completely off-key, but also with the heaviest working-class Boston accent I have ever heard in my life. "Tahtahl Eclipse uh thuh haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaht!"

None of my other favorite karaoke moments involve me singing, and I no longer consume anywhere near the amount of alcohol that is required for anyone to convince me to get on stage and sing anymore. So good on ya for trying! :-)
posted by occhiblu 02 March | 10:32
Turn around, Bright Eyes! Way to go, rainbaby.
posted by essexjan 02 March | 10:34
I was smashed once and did "ballroom blitz" - until someone shut off the machine (the "entertainment" was starting again) and I kept going. Didn't even notice.
posted by disclaimer 02 March | 10:55
NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR KARAOKE
posted by sourwookie 02 March | 11:08
...you know that's going to be in my head for the rest of the day, right?

AND I NEED YOU MORE THAN EVERRRRR
AND I NEED YOU MOOOOHHRRRRREEE TOOOOONITTTTEEE
posted by dismas 02 March | 11:40
NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR KARAOKE

Yeah, that's the point of Karaoke.

Last time I performed karaoke, I did Possum Kingdom. I got a few lighters. It was awesome. The best thing is that I dedicated it to my best friend's wife, because before I'd "introduced" them, she and I had discussed our mutual love for the song. The confusion created by the dedication generated much lulz.

I also do a mean Axl. "ShananananaKNEESPLEEZ!"

C'mon, I wanna watch you bleedsing.
posted by Eideteker 02 March | 11:44
Now I want MetaChat karaoke. Hmm...
posted by Eideteker 02 March | 11:44
I've never karaoke-ed. I know, what a sheltered existence, right?

But "Possum Kingdom" is the only song I've ever beaten on Expert level in Guitar Hero II.

"Dooooooooooo you wannna diiiiiiiiiiiiiiie?"

I think I'd do a mean karaoke version of "Highway 61 Revisited" if given half a chance, though.
posted by BitterOldPunk 02 March | 12:16
I've karaoked once in my life. In Tokyo. Cuz it had to be done. We were four friends in a room and me and a guy named Dirk totally and utterly hogged the mike all night. We might have sucked (likely!) but it was soooo much fuuuuuuuuuun!
posted by dabitch 02 March | 12:59
As the song goes: "fear is never boring".
posted by eekacat 02 March | 13:00
The best karaoke experience of my life was (obviously not me singing, because I have the worst singing voice EVAR) my friend getting up in a shady Japanese bar in a shady part of a city in New Zealand, and hammering out Japanese pop songs in perfect, fluent Japanese, albeit with a Dutch accent. The bartender was gobsmacked and gave us all free drinks all night.
posted by gaspode 02 March | 13:03
You haven't lived till you hear Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman" belted out by a slightly drunk untalented white man.

I have lived.
posted by bunnyfire 02 March | 14:24
Hey, I give you props. I went to karaoke every Tuesday night in college with a bunch of friends (mostly campy gay guys who picked Britney Spears songs) and never, ever got up the nerve to sing, no matter how drunk I got.
posted by desjardins 02 March | 14:33
The best New Year's Eve in recent memory was all-night karaoke. My friend signed us up to go on as the first singers. I was somewhat terrified, but it's the fear of going up there that makes it so much fun.

(as for what I sang, it was Huey Lewis, Herman's Hermits, a few others. We tried the Beach Boys and totally bombed that one)
posted by rottytooth 02 March | 14:56
My best Karako-moment was when a friend from NYC visited and we met at a shady bar in Copenhagen, where everyone sang like the drunken Danes they were. So he gets up, glasses, smaller build than all the vikings, inuits and african men in there, "just" your regular geeky guy from Brooklyn and belts out "BANG A GONG" so that all the girls had a bit of a Beatles moment as they ran up to dance in front of him squealing with delight. Karisma baybe! The faces on all the big Vikings was utterly priceless!
posted by dabitch 02 March | 15:02
Great stories.

I was not smashed - stomach contents included two beers, a non-lethal apple martini, a small knish, a small pig-in-a-blanket, three scallops wrapped in bacon, and a piece of cheese. Roughly. Part of my intention was to get things going - it was being dominated by The Same Three People Who Could Sing, and that's only fun for so long. Aother non-singing gentleman subsequently did Blondie's "One Way Or Another" which was quite endearing. As I was leaving, a sixty-something English transplant told me that she "liked my karaoke very much" in a tone that sounded like patting my hand. That about made me pee laugh walking to the car.

I wanna see Eid do Axl!

posted by rainbaby 02 March | 16:06
I loves karaoke!
posted by gomichild 02 March | 18:09
I love karaoke too. I love to watch karaoke. The only time I sang Karaoke in a bar is when one of my best girlfriends convinced me to sing "Gloria" by Them with her. I think Goldschläger was involved. I cannot sing to save my life. The song was a poor choice and difficult to sing for anybody, let alone two drunk people with zero musical capability.

I do sing karaoke with my extended and immediate family. That is all I will ever do since the Gloria incident.
posted by LoriFLA 02 March | 23:22
Oh, and good for you, rainbaby! I wanted to add that!
posted by LoriFLA 02 March | 23:23
My two karaoke standards are "Stand By Your Man" and "These Boots Are Made For Walking."

I look a lot more like Charlie Daniels than I do Tammy Wynette or Nancy Sinatra, and that seems to ensure that I get a good reaction.
posted by jtron 03 March | 01:16
Just in case someone didn't know, i demand a big time mecha meetup with a stage and karaoke and much assorted social lubricants.
posted by ethylene 03 March | 01:33
I've never done karaoke - it's always been too crowded.
posted by plinth 03 March | 08:38
My karaoke story involves being invited to a weekend cabin getaway by a friend of a friend. It was a pretty cohesive group, all old friends and family members, except me and afore-mentioned friend-of-a-friend. Much fun was had by all, though. At the cabin, they had karaoke. I figured it'd be a fun, casual thing to do, but there was That One Guy--you know, that guy who takes everything too seriously. He was sitting stock-still, expressionless, and singing a very off-key, emotionless version of "And IIIIIIiiiiIIII....will always LOVE YOUUUUUUU." So me and this friend, we assume the guy's joking. I mean it's freaking hilarious how badly this guy's doing, and his demeanor just screams irony....but, no, he's serious, and he keeps plugging through the song, oblivious to, or just not caring about, our delight. I mean, this guy was serious, not just about karaoke, but everything--he's a physician, on call all weekend, and here he's doing his best Whitney Houston imitation in a roomful of drunken weekenders. I guess everyone needs an outlet, some way to let it all hang out, and karaoke was his. I learned not to ever laugh at karaoke, for sure.
posted by mrmoonpie 03 March | 14:28
Sunday three point status update || HEY, BUYERS: ALL ABOARD!

HOME  ||   REGISTER  ||   LOGIN