KaraokePersonals.com

Meet new people and make new friends at karaoke

Can you sing?

I mean, can you sing well enough not to embarass yourself, perhaps just one song that you know well - even if you don't remember the words and pretty much hum your way through it?

Great.

There's a whole new world of entertainment and friends awaiting you, and the good news is that it's probably just as close as the pubs or clubs that you already visit and that it won't cost you a cent.

It's karaoke - and if you thought karaoke was the place where people who absolutely can't sing a note go to prove it to the world, then think again.

Australia won the 'World Karaoke Championships' in 2006 after coming 5th the previous year. The performances were probably above even 'Australian Idol' winners' standards, yet both the 2005 and 2006 winners were ordinary Australians who simply 'love their karaoke'.

Every night of the week, somewhere in Australia, people crowd into pubs and clubs for their turn on the stage to sing their favourite song. (Now there's nothing wrong with just going along and enjoying the free entertainment, and sure you're likely to make some great friends there, but I'm writing this for all those who can actually sing in tune themselves).

Karaoke may just revolutionise your life.

I'm David Kenward, and I run where2sing.com - Australia's #1 karaoke website. It's the place where people who love singing come to find their local karaoke nights in pubs and clubs right across Australia. And the where2sing.com karoake chat forums are where karaoke hosts and singers also chat, make friends, and arrange to meet at karaoke. where2sing.com karaoke website is the heart of Australia's karaoke community.

But I'm not a great singer - just one of those who has always been able to hold and tune, and someone who enjoys singing a few songs. In fact, the first few times I was at karaoke it was with friends, and the first time I sang was when no one else seemed able to sing the selected song, and so the microphone was passed to me.

Singing at karaoke is actually very easy.

Face your audience, listen to the music as it starts, and hum along with it quietly before the words start so that you know you're in the right key - and then just sing the song by reading the words off the screen. Experienced singers will sing to their audience and glance down at the words on screen only every line or two, and even more experienced singers may dance along - but it's really enough to just stand or sit there and sing the song.

Ok, so you might be a little nervous the first time you sing a song on stage, but you need to know that -
1. No one gets ridiculed, only applauded no matter their level of talent
2. Karaoke is for people of all singing talents, and you will soon find you're nowhere near the worst (or best...lol)
3. Choose an easy song, and one that people know well and love, and they'll credit you with its success

But what you really need to know about karaoke is -
1. As soon as you have sung, people will chat to you and make you their friend
2. All you need is one song to be able to cruise from venue to venue
3. It costs nothing to sing, but you are expected to be a paying drinker (and alcohol calms nerves)

I've noticed that a lot of couples go to karaoke together, even though karaoke venues do seem to have a disproportionate number of unattached people, and I've met a lot of couples at karaoke who actually first met at karaoke. After you've been to a couple of karaoke nights and enjoyed the free entertainment, you'll understand why karaoke is such an easy environment in which to make friends and even meet your future partner.

What kind of friends can you make at karaoke?

Ok, so the first time I 'won' anything at karaoke was up in Rockhampton where a bloke at the bar was giving a $20 prize to the 'best' singer - and I was naive enough not to realise that 'best singer' meant 'unattached male', and that the real prize was intended to be a shared experience in this fellow's bedroom - but it does go to show that karaoke is a great meeting ground for whatever you have the taste to meet. (Nope, I went home alone).

A more pleasurable experience was in the nights I spent in Sydney's 'Covent Garden Hotel' at the end of Chinatown, and more precisely in the nights in which an unattached lady called Adriana was in frisky mood, and where mouth-to-mouth resuscitation seemed her way of thanking singers for a great performance; if you like an alcohol-fuelled crowd in a small and very friendly venue, and with an exceptionally welcoming host called Jimmy, then head along to this venue.

I almost always go to karaoke alone, and so do most of those I know. And if you're seeking new friends, here are some top reasons for choosing karaoke -
1. It's better if you go alone, but note that you won't be spending the evening alone
2. People will make the first move and talk to you as soon as you've sung for the first time
3. There are some pretty hot girls and a lot of good-looking guys, both of all ages, at most karaoke nights

You will find that different venues attract different crowds, so if you're really turned on by an 87-year-old gentleman called 'Papa Frank' then you need to drop into Sydney's Covent Garden or Scruffy Murphy's pub (with the highly entertaining transvestite karaoke hosts) - but if you want to karaoke in the midst of half a dozen simultaneous hen's parties where the action gets wild and rarely any older than mid-twenties, then you're going to enjoy Sydney's 'Bristol Arms'.

I should put in a note here that many youngsters - and by that I mean late teenage - have been brought up on their parent's taste in music, and so your 1970's favourite song can often find huge applause and a fanatical following from amongst the youngest of crowds. Likewise, a lady at an RSL who claimed to be in her early seventies (but whom I secretly think was fogetting a decade or two) listed Coldplay and Eminem amongst her favourite artists.

Really, do many people go to karaoke?

Some karaoke nights attract a big crowd, and you'll find that many of the RSL and Community clubs holding their karaoke in the auditorium along with a big stage, 100+ crowd, and singing competitions with extravagent multi-thousand dollar prizes.

Or choose your small corner pub for a little gathering of less than 20 or so, and enjoy the comeraderie of just a few - plus you'll have many more opportunities to sing.

Better still, check out the Gig Listings on where2sing.com which will tell you how many people, and of what age group, you can expect to find in each venue. You'll find more than 800 gigs in the Gig Listings, so multiply that by perhaps an average of 50 people at each gig and you're talking about 40,000 across Australia each week - and that's just counting the gigs we know about.

I've hunted down karaoke in other countries, and the last time I was in Hong Kong I spent an enjoyable evening in the pub in 'd'Aguilar Street in the company of a fun and chatty Chinese girl who had gone there to meet friends but whose friends had obviously gone somewhere else.

I also spent nearly a month doing an extended 'karaoke pub crawl' from Sydney, though Melbourne and Adelaide, then up past Broken Hill across to Queensland's Gold Coast then up to Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and a fair way further north - and wrote reviews of many of those venues which you can read on the where2sing.com website.

But let's back to the purpose of all this, and let me ask you if you can sing?

If you really can't, then you need to know that everyone does have the ability to sing well - it has been scientifically established that singing in a learnt 'art', something that is acquired earlier in life by some people and thus who seem to 'have an ability'. But it's not so - practice improves singing, and if you can't currently sing in tune or in time, check Yellow Pages for a reputatable singing school or teacher (or ask in the where2sing.com karaoke forums). A couple of lessons is all it takes to get a non-singer singing in tune, and a couple more to master one of the popular songs.

You need to be able to sing in tune - even though there are many longtime karaoke singers (hello 'Jason B'...lol) who continue to be murderous in their renditions - because that's the basis on which you build enjoyable songs. So as long as you can really sing in tune (and, no, your grandma is not telling the truth in her evaluations!), you'll be fine; just record yourself on your old cassette recorder, computer or mobile phone, then play it back and check only for if you can sing in tune.

Then make sure you can sing all the way through a couple of popular songs that are -
1. Well known and well liked by people of most ages
2. Not too slow and neither too fast
3. Well within your vocal key range

And you're ready to head off to karaoke.

Finding karaoke venues can be difficult since many don't advertise, and you'll need to be there on the night to know that there is karaoke at all - but the where2sing.com Gig Listings has all the venues you'll need.

I can't tell you why some people claim that singing in front of others is scary because I haven't found this to be so (apart from singing in Sydney's Scruffy Murphy's pub with the outrageous drag queens, and my trepidation there was more to do with being told by one of the pair that Robbie Williams' Angels was her (his) favourite song and that I should not consider doing it damage. I didn't - and I survived.).

As far as I can see, the way to get up on stage if you feel fear is -
1. Acclimatise yourself by spending an hour in the venue, and ensure you are really comfortable with your choice of song
2. Drink enough to relax, then immediately stop drinking until after your first song
3. Take an experienced karaoke singing on stage with you if that helps you through your first time

And don't - don't, don't, don't ever - get up the first time with a group of friends, or with someone who is less than a really good and experienced karaoke singer. You're there to make friends, not alienate yourself from everyone in the pub at your very first shot at karaoke.

Are you a 'karaoke virgin'?

Well of course you are, because we all were the very first time we sang, but I'd really suggest keeping that quiet.

I'd also suggest you just sing your song - not give everyone a lecture on what you're going to sing, nor dedicate it to 'my friend in the audience', nor ask to be allowed to sing it from the safety of the restroom next door. And at the end of your song, do hang about for the end of the music (or near enough), and do give everyone a smile to acknowledge their applause, but don't launch into a vote of thanks or hog the mic to tell everyone to have a great night or anything as naff as that - just put the mic back where you found it, and leave the stage at a normal pace.

Oh, and don't go asking everyone 'how did I do?' and 'was I ok?' (unless your name is Dennis and you're living life under the misguided delusion that you are anything out of the ordinary). Karaoke singing is its own reward, and if someone tells you that you are a great singer or that they loved your song, take it as a kind and friendly comment possibly unconnected with your vocal abilities (remember the guy in Rockie who wanted to take me home and I suspect it had nothing with wanting to hear me sing any more..lol).

The more you sing at karaoke, the more you'll improve (and I'm not going to mention here the names of those whose improvement has been so slight as to suggest their competent performance will come years after my own demise, but whose songs I thoroughly enjoy despite their ongoing battles).

Some people suggest that singing in karaoke competitions is a great way to improve your performance, and although it may be, I think it has little to do with the pastime of making new friends at karaoke. I'd actually go as far as to suggest that those who are really average singers, and who don't stand out from the crowd, have the greatest chance of building a good circle of karaoke friends.

But karaoke is one of those few pastimes where star performers are genuinely appreciated and treated the same as anyone else, and where the stragglers in the musical stakes are often loved as much as the star performers.

Karaoke really is your ticket to a whole new circle of friends

Once you've got your couple of favourite songs, the world will never be the same. Any time you're bored, or lonely, or simply marooned in a new town and know no one, a new circle of friends is as close as your nearest karaoke pub or club.

And the way to find all these great karaoke venues is in Australia's #1 karaoke website - where2sing.com karaoke forums.

And when you first come to the website, come along to the forums and say hello - you'll find me there (my nickname, unsurprisingly, is "David'), and you'll find a lot of other singers and karaoke hosts who are ready to welcome you into Australia's great karaoke community.

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'karaokepersonals - www.karaokepersonals.com : The site for karaoke singers who want to meet new people and make new friends at karaoke.'