I am a big fan and a strong advocate of karaoke. I know a lot of people think it's just funny to laugh at people singing and see it as a joke, but it's an important part of my weekend. It's a way of life, dammit.

Let's throw down:

Who here has sang karaoke before, and who still does it regularly?

Where do you go to sing (if you do)?

Have you ever witnessed karaoke debauchery?

I go to this place in Malden, MA called Pearl Street Station every weekend or two, and I also go to a restaraunt called the Dockside (also in Malden). Pearl St. is a more chilled crowd, and the Dockside brings the drunks. If there was ever a time or place to bust out Warren G and Nate Dogg on a Thursday night, that would be it.

The BEST place I've ever been was this little Korean restaraunt called Second on Second, located on 2nd Ave and 2nd St. in NYC. For you NYC-ers, I can't recommend that place enough. Karaoke EVERY NIGHT!! Angela: go. I rocked "Say it Ain't So" and had a BLAST there!!

Personally, I usually gravitate toward light modern rock songs - Weezer, Red Hot Chilli Peppers - but bust out some Bon Jovi and Sinatra every once in a while. There's nothing like ripping some "Dead or Alive" in front of a lively crowd. The more I drink, the more adventurous I am to try new songs. My biggest scene was when I thought singing "Bye, Bye, Bye" by N*Sync was a good idea. Turns out I nailed the song (whod'a thunk?) and got a standing ovation. It also turns out that, no, I'm not gay.

Don't be shy. I know there are some karaoke-ers here!!

I've seen Second On Second from the outside numerous times, but never had the guts to go in.  Karaoke isn't something I can claim on doing regularly; in fact, there were only two occasions in my entire life when I did live karaoke, and they were both at wedding receptions.  The two songs I did the first time were Selena's eight minute Disco Medley track (which consisted of "I Will Survive," "Funky Town," "Last Dance," and "On The Radio" ) and Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."  The second time was Celine Dion's "Coulda Woulda Shoulda," which was a REALLY tough song to pull off for someone with zero vocal training whatsoever.  I'm an awful singer, but I must admit it's fun to suck up your pride every now and again, and expose your inner crooner.

I think if I should ever get the chance again, I'd love to do "I Think We're Alone Now" or Bon Jovi's "Who Says You Can't Go Home." 

I once heard someone do a note-for-note perfect pitch version of Chris Isaak's "Black Flowers."  It was awesome. ;)

There are a couple of places in Boston which I thought were fun.  They weren't particularly great in terms of decor nor equipment, but karaoke is all about who you go with.  Can't remember the names of those places, but one was a karaoke bar downtown, the other was in some Chinese restaurant on Tremont St.

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When I go to Otakon every year, there's a room dedicated to karaoke all through the weekend. Pretty elaborate set-up...If the guys running it can't find the karaoke version of the song you want to sing, they just go ahead and remove the lead vocal (not entirely, but for the purpose at hand, it works). Most of it is just for laughs, but I have stopped in to catch a couple of good renditions of songs (the FF vocals are popular of course, as are Slayers songs...Most were from series' I'm not familiar with, but occasionally one will pop up that rings a bell). Good place to chill out and relax at during the convention.

Me? I prefer good old singing overtop the real song...It's nice having back-up in case I lose my place in the song.

I've always wanted to do a karaoke of the really cheesy lounge song that's on the Ogre Battle: The Entrance CD.  That would be fun.

Sure do. Karaoke is almost an institution in our state, and I've gone lots of times for various things -- office parties mostly, but one of my cousins' bridal showers was held at a karaoke room, heh. My b/f's getting back into the habit of hosting a karaoke party every year, too.

I sing mostly '80s pop -- seeing as I don't listen to the radio anymore, those are the only songs I know now. ^_~ But we got to know this couple who are very immersed in Japanese culture, so for my bf's birthday this year, I actually had other people to sing Japanese songs with! Whoo-hoo! The place we go to, Karaoke Room 2, has an entire catalog of jpop. I sang Melodies of Life and Eyes On Me a couple years back, and this year I did COLORS by Utada Hikaru and "No Way to Say" by Ayumi Hamasaki -- I fully intend to tackle more Utada and Ayumi next year. ^_~ Too bad there aren't more anime songs, but as I found out, even many karaoke places in Japan don't have much of an anime song selection. Either that or I just don't go for the popular anime songs, heh.

Oh and Zane, I have to admit...I too sang "Bye Bye Bye" before. Probably not as good as you, though. ^_~ I actually gravitate quite a bit to songs done by males, because I can easily hit that vocal range.

Hahaha...
"Yes it's a battle human be-ing confront the ogres... a picturesque display, they mess around playing with sword~"

*dies laughing*

I love that album, for some reason it's one of my favorites.  Guilty pleasure, I suppose.

I'd go up after you and sing "Innocence" ^^

OK, yes, that is ONE cheesy song!  However, I think the other things are quite impressive (and the opening narration is cool too

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I used to go to karaoke all the time with my friends when I was living in Japan.  Haven't done it since coming back to America, though.  It's just not the same.

Anyhow, I'd usually do some cheesy 80's or 90's pop, or the worst J-pop I could think of.  The J-pop would really get a rise out of my Japanese friends.  Gah, I miss those days...

I finally tried it with this girl I really like.

I sang Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon" (my inner Evangelion fanboy doesn't shut up), and it was pretty cool. There's a part in the song where the singer's voice is supposed to go up suddenly, but my voice cracked and wavered between boyish tenor and manly baritone.

I didn't have the courage to get up again and sing, "Rock You like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions. I so should've done that.

If they had some Eurobeat, I'd have sung that, too.

"Fly Me to the Moon" is a damn good karaoke song. I usually sing "I Get a Kick Out of You" if I rock the Sinatra.

I hope that netted you some points with the ladyfriend. I sang "Stellar" by Incubus to the girl I've been seeing last weekend, and she melted. People underestimate the weight karaoke can have on a girl's heart.

It appears that you consume alcohol, quite a bit, my friend.

Oh, trust me, it did. It paid big dividends later on. I'm quite content with it all. I just wish I had a deeper and more melodious voice.

That's what happens when you rock the karaoke bars 3-4 nights a week. I'm a big fan of the entire experience. I'm sure it'll peter out and I'll chill eventually, but I'm on a karaoke high right now. I have at least one or two bars that have karaoke nearby almost every night of the week!

Nice, nice.

After doing karaoke for a while I found my "real" singing voice buried deep down. It's pretty easy to just carry a tune and sing, but most of the time people sing from their throat/nasal passage. Once I learned how to breathe differently while I sing and really belt stuff out from my gut I became a much better singer - sometimes I can really fill the room with my voice, depending on how much air I have in my lungs and how I'm projecting my voice. It's all practice, man.

Word.  I just figured out this "trick" a few months ago when I was singing in my car (some of the modern hard rock crap you hear on the radio) ... one thing I noticed, though, is that it's damn hard to keep control over where your pitch goes when you're doing that.  I need to practice more, and the car's the perfect place.

I'm a bit afraid of going out to do karaoke here in Houston... probably a bunch of country bars with rednecks singin' country crap.  Then again, I'm a bit terrifed to drive anywhere, so... karaoke comes later, hehehe.

Also, for anyone who's subscribed to Yahoo Music Unlimited, it seems that they've added an assload of karaoke CDs to their archive lately.  Seriously, any pop song you can think of is probably on there to listen to (ok, for 6.95 a month, but it's worth it, and you can easily record the output and burn it to CD or whatever. ;) )

What exactly *is* the right way to breathe while singing, and how do you do it? I always hear, "Breathe from your diaphragm," but heck if I know exactly what that means, much less where that is. Speaking from the external point of view, is that the area of the body where men tend to get beer bellies, or is it the area where you have to do weird crunches to get a flat stomach (below the bellybutton)?

I really can't explain it in technical terms, but I basically take a deep breath in and pull the air into my gut through my mouth and use that as force to get my voice out. There's a little threshold where my belly expands... that's how I know I'm ready to belt out a few lines. The area I sing from is a couple of inches higher than my bellybutton. I'm no professional by any means, so I could be doing this wrong myself - but so far I've been pleased with the results.

Well, I had to resurrect this thread, for one reason only...

Zane, you HAVE to download this, because you will eat this stuff up like sugar.

Flowering Night 2006 ~Touhou Live in Hakurei-Shrine~ Doujin Concert DVD [DivX]

Energetic Touhou Game Music + Live Doujin Bands + Crazy Vocal Songs = Hyper Zane

I can totally picture you drunkenly singing along with those 'Dream Collaboration' and 'Cool & Create' segments.

Anyways, this whole DVD is so freaking awesome I can't even begin to explain it.
!~~MUST WATCH~~!

Awesome, Carl! I'll have to check that out when I have the chance. I'm leaving work soon, but I can download it tomorrow!!

It's a good thing you bumped this. I made it to the final round at a karaoke competition in Boston, and the battle is tonight! Wish me luck, everyone. I'm not going to do anything fancy - just "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots. I can rock that song, and it fits my voice very well. So we'll see how it goes...