Karaoke!

[MellowDrama]

I hated it as a child. Some of my earliest memories of family parties were of aunts and uncles (drunk) singing terribly on the machine in the living room. So I never picked up the mic EVER! :angry:

But then I went to college and hung out w/ some Asian people my age for the first time, and they convinced me that it wasn't something for old folks. And the following sumer when I was in Japan & Taiwan, I'd go with my friends (several times a week), so I was pretty much converted to being a bonafide junkie by then.

And of all things... I met my gf @ karaoke! Her first thoughts, she said were "yeah he's cute and can sing but damn... what a fucking mic hog! Will he ever let anyone else sing?!" :lol:

[achtungbaby]

Koreans call it noh rae bang. They're about as much of ktown as the pool halls, cafes and clubs.

[MellowDrama]

Originally posted by achtungbaby@Feb 20 2003, 04:00 AM
Koreans call it noh rae bang. They're about as much of ktown as the pool halls, cafes and clubs.
Oh hell yeah. My friends would drag me out to the ones in NYC Ktown. Noe rae bang + Soju = good times had by all. :)

Except for the morning after! :gross:

[Rogmok]

after enough liquor... i sound good to even myself..

[yoMAMA]

Sorry if I offend anyone, but I HATE kareoke. :pissed:

[moschikat]

:lol: kareeeokeeeyyyy!!!!!
i'm a mic hog, and i feel a little like sharing . . . uhm be kind okay?

<img src='http://www.herm.org/kiki/kikising.jpg[/img]

[kasia]

karaoke was my life. we used to call it "color ok" :) or at least that's what it sounded like. more like "kalah ok". i learned how to read chinese through karoake. and i joined little karoake contests held by hong kong and taiwan radio/television stations. never won, but the experience was well worth it. i'm not a mic hog; i'm actually really shy and like singing at home by myself.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

hehe, i love it. all the mandarin I know I learned through karaoke. :rolleyes:

<----- see the mic in my hand

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by kasia@Feb 20 2003, 03:42 PM
karaoke was my life. we used to call it "color ok" :) or at least that's what it sounded like. more like "kalah ok". i learned how to read chinese through karoake. and i joined little karoake contests held by hong kong and taiwan radio/television stations. never won, but the experience was well worth it. i'm not a mic hog; i'm actually really shy and like singing at home by myself.
what about the qi pao and converse? :)

[ism]

Need a few drinks for myself and even more for my friends. The best part is knowing the Engrish lyrics are wrong and singing the correct ones.

[Elizabeth A.]

All my karaoke memories are shrouded in a mist of tequila and Smirnoff Ice.

[achtungbaby]

Originally posted by MellowDrama@Feb 20 2003, 02:06 AM
Except for the morning after! :gross:
A bowl of hae jang kuk will kill all hang overs.

[BeTheReds]

Note to all.

Never go to Karaoke with Eugene if you want a chance to sing.

[rakovlam]

Hell yeah, I'm learning more mandarin in karaoke than those crappy classes once a week.

[ChinaLama]

I really liked doing ghetto karaoke at a friend's friend's home (we put cds in a cd player or cd rom drive and plugged in a mic). I thought i was good...but i kept scoring among the lowest. :( first time was cuz i totally botched journey's "open arms" and started doing questionable things w/ a psyduck doll. second time, i don't know. people just didn't like Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl," I guess. :P

But shrugs, paying to karaoke is alright, but i wouldn't do it often cuz i'm kinda disillusioned w/ the fake music videos. And there are plenty of songs fr my cds that i would like to sing to anyway. And that karaoke machine my parents bought in the mid 90s? needs to be put to use! maybe i'll do some self karaoke some time next week at home. :)

[tvbdude]

I'm not a karaoke fan but my father is. he listens and sings along to old chinese songs

[Hanuman]

I suck at singing. i wish I were good, but I stink. So no Karaoke for me. If you wanna hear me sing, feel free to visit me in the shower. :o

[applehead]

oh i love it.
such a great stress reliever.
i love it when the room has a mic stand.

[deez nuts]

I hate it.

I made a total ass out of myself doing it at my department's X-mas party. A co-worker videotaped the whole thing and the video is still circulating around the hospital.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by achtungbaby@Feb 20 2003, 08:45 PM
A bowl of hae jang kuk will kill all hang overs.
i thought that was gum ja tang? or am i getting my korean foods mixed up here?

[applehead]

there's this korean bar i go to in queens with a stage.
omg. when i go up there.
i feel like a star.

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by applehead@Feb 21 2003, 08:30 AM
there's this korean bar i go to in queens with a stage.
omg. when i go up there.
i feel like a star.
The powah of alcohol!

[applehead]

Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Feb 21 2003, 05:31 AM
Originally posted by applehead@Feb 21 2003, 08:30 AM
there's this korean bar i go to in queens with a stage.
omg. when i go up there.
i feel like a star.
The powah of alcohol!
EXACTLY.

[kasia]

has anyone been to sonic in san francisco japantown? it's a thai karoake bar - you sing from your table - they just hand the mic around. everyone there can sing really well - usually chinese and english songs.

[moschikat]

There's also one in LA - uhm, down the street from the Kodak theater :blink: (i forgot the name of the place!) - uhh there's a guy that does a pretty good Elvis impersonation there too . .

they have about 10 rooms n' a selection of Jap/Eng/Chinese/Korean/Thai songs to choose from . . .

yeah . . . i likeeey!!

[contra_diction]

used to love it!
but now everytime i grab a mic,
i have a tendency to start freestyling.

[teaz0r]

i enjoy karaoke. sometimes i go there
for the lunch special, buy a lunch set
and get 2 free hours!

in thai we call it kah rah oh gae

i always sing the spy who loved me o.O

[AliBabaIncorporated]

anyone know any decent karaoke places in boston besides do re mi?

[ChinaLama]

i'm working on my karaoke skills for songs that will NEVER be found in karaoke bars. :)

[blue hoodie]

I used to be terrified of Karoke. Which is really weird since I used to be a lead singer in a band. But now that I've gotten over it, I'm a karoke whore.

[teaz0r]

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Feb 26 2003, 04:13 AM
anyone know any decent karaoke places in boston besides do re mi?
tawana or mandarin.

dunno if they're still around.

[Fireblade]

Originally posted by kasia@Feb 21 2003, 10:33 AM
has anyone been to sonic in san francisco japantown? it's a thai karoake bar - you sing from your table - they just hand the mic around. everyone there can sing really well - usually chinese and english songs.
been there. Right above Denny's right? There's like another karokee place downstairs, and another one called Do-Re-Mi a block or two up. In J-town. Doh-Ray-Mi has current english songs there. Ever tried to sing along to "Lose Yourself" by Eminem? Yea... it's HARD.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

I love noraebang/karaoke'ing. All I need is a mammoth-size bag of Nong Shim sae-oo-kkang and it's all good :)

[applehead]

i can't karaoke if the room doesn't have a mic stand.
oh. i love mic stands.

[purezero]

I've only gone karaoke-ing once in my life. And that was in 7th grade. And it wasn't with a bunch of Asians (I didn't have many Asian friends at the time, maybe... one). But it was fun. I'm a mic hog.

Is it that funny though? There are some kids in my class right now watching these two Korean ladies sing. And they're just laughing, and laughing, and laughing...

[Focker]

i'm the next American Idol baby.

[DragonKnight]

Hrm, I'm a real mic hog in karaoke. Used to be a choir director and music director in church and in my youth group. I just wish I could sing in Mandarin and Cantonese. :D

-Rich, "whose English singing is decent" :)

[specialK]

karaoke is a-ok! it's funny as hell when friends pick songs for each other. i made my friend sing whitney houston's "i will always love you" and he almost had a stroke. ah, good times, good times.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

Originally posted by specialK@Mar 16 2003, 02:58 AM
karaoke is a-ok! it's funny as hell when friends pick songs for each other. i made my friend sing whitney houston's "i will always love you" and he almost had a stroke. ah, good times, good times.
Me and my buddy had to do Shania's 'I'm Gonna Getcha Good' complete with dance moves. Not pretty

[purezero]

Someone take me karaoke-ing now! Haha. :lol:

[Faithless]

Now, you can get your karaoke on with Missy Elliot, Young Gunz, Eminem, etc.

leadsinger.com New Release 2004 (http://www.leadsinger.com/order.cfm?Action=ShowInfo&ProductID=3&SubProductID=13)

[yuuteya]

:biggrin: Yes I love karaoke alot! There was a time when I went to the karaoke box every day. We spent a bit, but had the best time! If you have a points card so its ok. Almost everyone i know likes it to so when we have the time we go to the karoke box and sing for hours. Just give me a calpis chu-hi and the mic and Im happy. :rolleyes:

[Faithless]

:biggrin: Yes I love karaoke alot! There was a time when I went to the karaoke box every day. We spent a bit, but had the best time! If you have a points card so its ok. Almost everyone i know likes it to so when we have the time we go to the karoke box and sing for hours. Just give me a calpis chu-hi and the mic and Im happy. :rolleyes:
This was in Japan?

I've never done Karaoke in a public venue. Do people laugh or make fun of the singers? Say stuff like, "he-taaaaa!"

I know what Calpis (Calpico) is, but what is the chu-hi portion? Alcoholic?

[yuuteya]

Yah its in Japan. Karaoke places are everywhere. Some have very cool interior designs. I go whenever we have free time. Its lots of fun! :biggrin: No one makes fun of other people singing, at least nobody I ever met ever did that. Its something usually done in a group with friends or coworkers who also like karaoke. Occasionally someone has no confidence in their own voice, but the vibe is very positive and everyone encourages everybody to sing as much as possible. No one really cares about voice quality. Its all about chillin out, relax and enjoyin the music... "Chu-hai" or "sour", are low cost alcoholic drinks that comes in various fruity flavors like calpis, plum, cassis, berry, apple, etc. You usually get one free drink. Most people order that or nama-beer, oolong-cha, etc. something to soothe the throat for that karaoke workout :smile:

[yuuteya]

Here is the menu for "Janbo Karaoke Hiroba", its a karaoke box chain in the Kansai area. Click to see pics of food and drinks!

Lots of food, snack or dinners:
http://jankara.ne.jp/food/eat/eat.html

Lots of drinks, alcholic or soft drinks:
http://jankara.ne.jp/food/drink/drink.html

Enough to keep you eating, drinking, and singing for hours..! :biggrin:

[Faithless]

Group claims karaoke is criminal (http://www.khou.com/business/stories/khou050128_mh_karaoke.52906df2.html)
02:58 PM CST on Friday, January 28, 2005

By APRIL KINSER / DallasNews.com

The next time you see someone jump onstage at a karaoke bar and belt out a tune, keep in mind you could be watching an illegal act. And it wouldn’t be the singing.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers announced this week it has sued 24 restaurants, clubs and bars in 15 states, including Texas, for allowing live performances of their members’ songs or customers’ singing of copyright music without permission, resulting in lost income for the artists.

And the establishments have ignored repeated requests to pay required fees, he said.

The association licenses its members’ works, which include 8 million songs and compositions from artists such as Alicia Keyes and Trisha Yearwood, and collects royalties for public performances of those copyright works.

Public establishments must pay a fee if any copyrighted songs are performed live or played through a radio station, jukebox, television or CD player.

The average establishment pays $2.16 per day, depending on how it uses copyright songs and how often they are performed, Vincent Candilora, president of licensing for ASCAP, said Friday.

“The owner of the karaoke bar needs to have permission or a license and pay royalties,” Candilora said. “You as the person getting up to sing have no obligation. A band performing a song has no obligation. It is the establishment deriving the benefit.”

Scuttlebutts Restaurant and Bar in Lubbock, OUI Club in Wichita Falls and Happy Town Karaoke in Houston were three Texas establishments targeted.

Dan Venglarik, a Dallas-based patent law attorney, said performing karaoke generally does not violate copyright law, unless establishments require a cover charge or profit in some way from the actual performance.

“If you just stand up in a bar or in public and start singing, you’re not infringing on any copyright laws,” Venglarik said. “It comes down to whether you’re making money off of it or not.”

Stephen Rowland, a manager at Scuttlebutts, said the restaurant features a professional singer performing rock and pop songs with a karaoke machine accompaniment. While the restaurant pays the singer, customers are not required to pay a cover charge, he said.

“My opinion is that is should be up to (the professional singer) to deal with ASCAP, not us,” Rowland said.

Rowland said the restaurant was in the process of working with ASCAP to settle the dispute.

Candilora said ASCAP would like to settle most of the litigation outside of court. Penalties could range anywhere from $750 to $10,000 per infringement from the first time ASCAP contacted the establishment, he said.

“We want these clubs to be successful and we want them to make money from the uses of our members’ songs, “Candilora said. “We don’t want to sue people, but there are always those who thumb their nose at the law.”

[yuuteya]

Grumpy Party Poopers they are..:rolleyes:


But I think theres a difference there. Like there, you do karaoke in a bar, or in front of the public right? So it falls under public performance...?

But here its done at the karaoke box, which are private rooms for a group of people. There you can do whatever you want in private, or at least in front of your own crowd. No embrassment, no inhibitions. Just cathartic fun fun fun...!! :biggrin:


Hey theres a business idea... :wink:

[SunWuKong]

bump?