Reporting Live From Pandora Karaoke!

Friday, September 10, 2010

A new Friday venue has arrived, 

it's Called Pandora Karaoke!

And I'll be hosting the main lounge from 8pm to 2am. Sing your favorite songs to an amazing sound system devised just for Karaoke! Expect live updates via Blogger and Twitter, starting at 8pm, PST. Cheers!

It's 8:07pm and I've already a singer on stage. His name is Van, and he's singing OMG by Usher. The sound system here is great. It's a snap to dial in the singer with the music. Sing it Van!

Cybil busted out some Fugees and I just sang Comedown from Bush. Newcomer Mark is doing the business on Fell On Black Days, by Soundgarden. George, Scott, Troy and Birthday boy Josh are here. The Birthday boy is singing Beyonce's Irreplaceable.

Scott and Becca singing My Humps...

Mark Wonder sings Superstition! Scott's singing Blue Velvet. Becca is up next with Blondie.

Oops... I thought I had posted Troy's photo. Instead, I got the birthday boy again! Btw, Troy is singing Freedom 90 from George Michael.

George and Troy duet-ing.

Scott adds some heat to the room with some Seven Mary Three.

Becca is a Supreme!

A fun trio of creeps... I mean peeps!

This is Anne's Poker Face.

Damn Internet was down for 20 minutes. We're back in business now... Marc sings Plush by STP.

I had to Disarm by The Smashing Pumpkins. A great song, even sung with my laryngitis.

It's freakin' hard to blog and host karaoke at the same time!

Some people are just dying to sing something. Anything!

Internet problems are disrupting the blog updates. What you missed was much. The night is fun and is still going strong. Damn you Internet! Next time...

Why Not Cheer?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Cheering is fun!

So, you're on the Mic belting out a song. Good or bad the crowd applauds you. Well, all except for that one person at the bar who had very conveniently pulled out her Smartphone and proceeded to pseudo-urgently reply to a text message during your entire performance. She doesn't offer support or acknowledgement of any kind, and the indifferent expression on her face tells the experienced Karaokista everything they need to know about her: She an Egomaniac, and wants 100% of the audience's appreciation for herself. When it's Ms. Smartphone's turn to sing, she attempts to sound like Beyonce or any of the other big named R&B singers. Her voice is not bad, with heavy emphasis on not bad, but her style is so trite, so homogeneous, like the fattening spread she butters her toast with in the morning.





If you sing karaoke regularly you may have seen the signs of the Egomaniac: He usually sits at the bar with his back to the stage. Not watching the performances keeps him free from offering support. The expression-less look on his face bears no hint of appreciation for anyone. And he deftly uses his Smartphone to deny a quality singer due applause.You may know one of these people already. If not, after reading this blog you may begin to recognize the telltale signs.

Hallelujah!

What they don't realize is that singing karaoke isn't American Idol, it's karaoke. And everyone came to have fun. All singers, good and bad, should be given the same support and congratulations for their performances. It's not about competition. If it were then we wouldn't be cheering for you, either. But just know we do, and it's not because you sound like Beyonce because you don't. Your tired singing style is appreciated because you've chosen to celebrate music with karaoke junkies. It's supposed to be fun, so get over yourself and put your hands together and cheer for everyone.

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Word Challenge Karaoke: Live from Caffeinated Comics

Saturday, August 7, 2010

As KJ Paul sets up for this afternoon's word challenge, I must give a shout out to Taqueria Cancun on Mission and Fair Street for the amazing vegan burrito. It's so goddamned good!

Word Challenge begins now. The first word is "Tight." Tana draws first blood with Free Your Mind from En Vogue.

I did Fever and voila! I'm still in the game! Fever is in the second verse!

L.A. is the next word and Rob Il Duce is Walking In LA. I won a $20 drink ticket at Deco for singing California Dreaming. Wow, only the second thing I've won in my entire life! The first thing was two tickets to the movie "The Shaggy D.A." back in 1975!

Glenny Kravitz and Tad sing California Love. Scott sang The LA Song. Rob Il Duce has one LA song in reserve just in case...

Paul sings I Am I Said. Claudia is on the mic singing All I Wanna Do by Cheryl Crow. The LA theme continues... Glen on the mic now singing Operator from Jim Croce. Now it's Rob Il Duce with The Heart Of
Rock And Roll. Now Spalding sings Hollywood Nights... How many songs exist with LA in either the title or the lyrics? Soon a new word will become the challenge. I just sang one of the lamest songs in the world, I Love LA by Randy Newman!

Sorry for the delay. The blogging machine crashed and required a system restore to revive the little laptop that could. The new word is Sister. Tana and Claudia jumped on the band wagon with Lady Marmalade.

I picked Sister Golden Hair and now Scott is singing some song with sister in the lyrics but I don't know what it is. Suzanne just arrived and is scrounging through the song book for a song with the magic word in it.

Spalding got a special artist selection, which makes the artist out of bounds to all other singers. What?!?
Suzanne pulled off the Girls Lie Too by Terri Clark.

Alright, Paul left his date now Scott is the rules the roost. Word Challenge is over. We started off with Santa Monica sang by a passerby, followed by me singing Blow Up The Outside World from Soundgarden. That shit is fucking fun to sing! Spalding is singing at his last Caffeinated Comics, Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay. Congrats on your new job in Houston Spalding. You will be missed by the Karaoke Mafia!

Just a few more singers now until end of this month's installment of Caffeinated Comics. Today was an entertaining experiment in games that was much harder than we all had expected. You can catch more Karaoke Word Challenge by going to KJ Paul's website, and additional photos will be published on Ash Wednesday Karaoke Insider's Group on Facebook. Cheers for now.





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A-Team Hit Squad Van: Assault On Islais Creek

Friday, July 30, 2010

Understand one thing: The A-Team doesn't F*ck around. The Bayview community found this out the hard Friday last night when the hit squad van rolled up in a secret location, behind the Muni boneyard and Islais Creek. The mastermind, Glenny Kravitz Karaoke Shark, led the Karaoke Mafia on an all out assault on the Bayview.

The A-Team hit squad operated so discreetly invaded the community that its adversaries didn't know what was happening until it was too late. It was at Islais Creek where when the ultimatum was delivered, sending shock waves through the community: "Either you sing with us, or you sing against us." Several rivals gangs showed up for a fight and were quickly dispatched by the Mafia, while many lesser rivals had chosen to stay at home, succumbing to the A-Team's devastatingly effective shock and awe campaign.

When the smoke cleared, only the A-Team was left standing. The carnage from the battle was removed and stored it in the proper recycling containers. For the first time in decades, order had been restored to the fine residents of the Bayview community.

Additional photos are available for viewing by joining Ash Wednesday Karaoke Insider's Group on Facebook.


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