Missy Reese sings at karaoke night at Village Lanes in East Syracuse, N.Y.
I enjoyed judging the karaoke contest Saturday night at Village Lanes in East Syracuse.
The nine singers who signed up ranged in talents, certainly, from very good to very brave.
That’s one of wonderful things about karaoke. Anybody who wants to sing can. It’s really the great equalizer.
You don’t have to be great. Maybe you just have to want to be great. A legend in your own mind, perhaps. Or maybe just somebody who wants to get better and better and better singing. Or somebody who likes to wail and doesn’t care about the consequences?
I wrote about the phenomena that won’t go away for my weekly Mark It Up community blog for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org. If you’d like to read my story, click the link below.
http://waer.org/post/karaoke-keeps-going-strong-including-contest-village-lanes
By the way, Missy Reese, the singer I caught in my picture above, was one of the good ones. She took one of the four slots to advance to the next round of the competition.
Do you enjoy watching friends or family sing karaoke, and if so, why? Do you enjoy watching strangers sing karaoke, and if so, why? Would you rather sing in the shower, in the car, or at a karaoke night, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
I love singing karaoke, but only after a beer to calm my stage fright. 🙂 Or else I can do fine with my eyes closed. 🙂
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When you visit we’ll have two drinks and sing, Rachel, single and duet. OK?
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A friend hosts a weekly karaoke night and we attend as a family most weeks. My husband and I sing regularly and the kiddo will jump in now and then. I have actually been doing it for years. My ex-husband had a friend that ran karaoke in multiple bars where we lived and we would join her a couple of times a week (pre-motherhood, of course). When I started, I had to have a drink to calm my nerves….but once I got pregnant and couldn’t do that, I had to learn to do it on my own. Now I can stand at the mic and belt it with the best of them……or at least the loudest of them.
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Way to go, SC! Loud is good, I think. 🙂
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I’ve only been to a few Karaoke bars but enjoyed them. I did end up singing at one after too much to drink and with a partner. Ha! I don’t remember much. neat that you got to judge Mark. that would be fun. Did Karen join you?
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Karen did not join me that evening. It was the same day as the Crawfish Festival, and she chose to attend that event in the afternoon, so instead wanted to stay home and unwind from her long work week on a Saturday night. Can’t say I blame her, though I’m sure she would have been thoroughly entertained.
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Gee, no one ever asked for my autograph except the cop who gave me a ticket once., um, maybe it was a couple of times bro Mark. I guess I coulda been famous if I had signed that contract, but just too afraid. I got my 15 minutes of fame with Skynard though, and every Sunday morning behind the mic in church, shielded by my Martin D78. I also wanted to play the violin badly, and I was an over-achiever there. The family banished me to the barn, but the cow went dry after I practiced there for a few days, so I had to go back to the end of the cornfield. We had a lower yield of corn that year. Tried moving in with my grandparents, both deaf, but the neighbors complained and there were visits from the police, so I finally decided that just wasn’t my thing and traded it for my first guitar. Good decision.
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I wonder what what have happened if you would have signed and toured with Skyhyrd, sis Angie. Nah. If you don’t wonder, I won’t eitther.
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Actually, I would probably be dead bro Mark. That night was about a month before the fatal plane crash where so many of his band were killed.
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Oh, gosh, sis Angie. Well, life had you make the proper decision.
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I sing (poorly) with a lot of heart, as they say 😀 I sing at church, in the car, in public when it will embarrass my children, and while watching The Voice. Speaking of, if I just believe in myself…believe that I will hit that high note…I will…in fact, I believe in my voice so much I’m pretty much going to be a very famous singer very soon. Do you want my autograph now before I hit the big time?
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I want it now, and I want it again then, too, Angie McFly! OK? Deal?
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Deal 😎
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Hey there Judge. I sing a lot in my car when sober, in bars when not. I am a die-hard Gladys Knight, without the Pips. ☺ Van
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Let’s hop on the Midnight Train, Van. Sounds good to me. Pips need not apply. 🙂
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☺ Yep…that was my song !
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I just knew it, Van.
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Mark, I’m not a fan of Karaoke, but I’m a fan of yours for saying that the singing ranged from good to brave – You have a beautiful heart! At first I read the title of this post as, If you want to sing badly in public you can – which sounds like the mission statement for karaoke bars to me… 😉
Diana xo
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They want people to sing great, medium, and bravely, Diana! ❤
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We’re going here, huh, Chum? Giggle. I do love me some karaoke, if I have a drink to calm the nerves. However, I love watching others more. Some really do get into it, you know. I adore that you were a judge. I bet it was a blast!
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It was fun, but serious, too, Aud, this judging.
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Yes to everything, Mark.
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I know you will, Ann. Some Steely Dan for you. 🙂
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I’d love to see some folks singing karaoke. I love singing people. I like your reasons for why people might be singing. I would never do it. But I’d love to watch while others did it. I think singing is one of the greatest soothers of human souls.
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When we have our big BloggyVille party, we’ll have a no-stress zone karaoke machine set up in the corner, MBC. What do you think? You’ll sing then, right?
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Oh my! Wouldn’t that be an incredible party? And yes…yes, I think I would sing! 🙂
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I think all of us would sing at that party, MBC. Nothing to lose! We’d all be so happy. 😉
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I bet there would be quite a few singers!
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oh, how wonderful this would be! i’m an amazing car singer and my kinders think i’m good, but the reality is…….otherwise) don’t care though, i love to sing.
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I heard you sing the Maryland school song to pay off a certain bloggers football wager, and you had an amazingly deep voice, as I recall, Beth. 😉 You sounded a bit like Vernon Davis, in fact. I think you should go for a karaoke night with your daughters. You have nothing to lose. 🙂
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We have done it at Heidi’s bowling bday party a few years back )
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Fantastic. What song was yours, Beth?
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spirit in the sky
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The Norman Greenbaum special! A classic from our wayback. Great choice, Beth.
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Allegedly my boyfriend is superb at karaoke, I cannot tell you because I make him do it when he is in Tokyo!
Nx
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Now, Niki, I say it is time for you to take a night out for karaoke with your boyfriend in Brighton, don’t you think? Maybe you’d even be inspired to sing! 😉
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ho ho ho… ur such a joker 🙂 X
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I think this is an unusual way of showing people you appreciate music and singing, Mark. I admire that you were a judge for this and I enjoy karaoke, so It would be fun for me, too.
I am only able to get up and sing, if a few friends are around and there is a few drinks consumed beforehand. I hope no one remembers my singing, since I usually hold the microphone far away and let the others who are singing with me take the ‘burden’ of the song more. I love this post and would have enjoyed being in the audience. So glad Missy did a fine job, along with a few others moving on.
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There are lead singers and there are backup singers, and everybody has their role, Robin. 🙂 That’s what groups of friends are all about, right? 😉
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Mark, I like the idea of being a back up singer or even one who just gently sways back and forth to the music! ha ha!
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You go for that job and you’ll get it every time, Robin. 😉
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Oh dear I have enjoyed karaoke on too many occasions. I love your description ”very good or very brave’ I think that is perhaps the kindest of description which could be given to describe it.
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Thank you, Tric. I try. 🙂
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This is the national sport of Taiwan. Even the hotels have long corridors with sound-proof rooms which you can rent and use for karaoke. It’s incredible. Our friends have a big karaoke room in their basement and that’s how they entertain. And nobody is the least bit shy about it. Such a cultural difference. They sing their heads off – English and Chinese songs – with great enthusiasm.
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Good for their enthusiasm and lack of inhibitions about it, Barbara. Now, I must ask. Did you?
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Oh, you better believe it! I channeled my inner Stevie Nicks and belted them out while my husband sat and shook his head quietly in the corner. LOL!
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I love to do karaoke, and I have a horrible voice. I jump around, dance, and in general ham it up. it’s fun! But a contest? I don’t qualify for that. I have enjoyed nights when the crowd is really into it and we all cheer for each other, even if we don’t know one another and most of us are not very good.
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That’s the spirit of karaoke, Cynthia, when everybody knows their level and appreciates everybody else’s level as well. I like that you ham it up, fast song style. Good for you! I ham it up for Bobby Darin’s version of ‘Mack the Knife’ as my go-to karaoke song. Also, last time on the cruise ship, I busted out the first version of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home” a cappella because I had rehearsed it but the karaoke crew did not have the music. The first verse was all I could remember without the screen lyrics. The rest would have been too slow of a ballad, anyway, with these new rules I am now accepting.
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I don’t often do the karaoke, but I do like to hear good singing, regardless of the source 🙂
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Yes, good is good is good, Joey. Agreed.
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I would agree to keep upbeat tunes. Even if you can sing a great ballad, people don’t go to bars on Saturday nights to hear Debbie Downer. It’s supposed to be fun. On the other hand, don’t bother if you sound like Tiny Tim. I got the nerve up about 15 yrs ago, just before 2am closing time, to sing Roseanne Cash’s “Seven Year Ache” in front of a crowd of about 3 and never did it again. Now I sing at church, so the fear is gone, but it sure would be fun. How neat that you got to judge!
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I think it’s time for you to karaoke again, Kerbey. You love to sing, so you have nothing at all to lose.
Yes, it was fun to judge. The people had a lot on the line, so I took it seriously.
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Oh I SO agree about Debbie Downer! I was once at a karaoke night in Potsdam, NY and all these students from the Crane School of Music were there. Their voices were beautiful, of course, but slow song after SLOOOWW song! ugh!
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I’m pretty much inline with the rest. I’ll sing in the car and. Shower but not in front of a crowd…mainly because I can’t sing. But I enjoy watching others who either have talent or brave enough to get up there. Of course some may not remember what they did the next morning but that’s the fun part.
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Yes, it’s fun to watch all the levels, George. The great and the not-so.
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Karaoke, that is a line of bravery I wouldn’t want to cross. Singing while washing the dishes is as close as I would come to singing in “public”. 🙂
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Some people are good enough to know there limits, like you Fannie, and some people are good singers, too. 🙂
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I sing to the muzak at work. It’s a good thing we’re closed most of my shift…
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I can imagine you bellowing away at Mecca without a care or a bucket to carry the tune, Bill. 🙂
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I sing in the car, all the time. The only way I could sing in front of others, as the center of attention at the moment, would be if I were very inebriated. I could not care less what other drivers on the road think of me when they see me belting out tunes on the commute 😀
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Your method is a good system, J. I often would like to hear the folks I see singing full blast in their cars without inhabition, though!
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Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun Mark. I’ve never been to a Karaoke bar when the karaoke was actually happening but it’s fun with friends at parties. You know, the word badly in your title can be taken two ways!!
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That’s why I wrote it that way, Marissa. That’s what a karaoke bar is all about, both ends of the spectrum.
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Ha, glad I picked up on it! Got to get up pretty early in the morning to get by me. I tell you Mark, I’m sharp as a tack!
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You are plenty sharp, Marissa. That’s why I hang out with you. 🙂
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