“Who
are you and why are you calling my home at this hour?”
The
answer is simple: I crave attention, but only when I am doing something
relatively well.
You
probably do too, and that’s okay. That’s
why we do this, you and I. We’re a lot
alike, only you obviously spend a lot more money and attention on your
appearance. But we share a common goal:
We want to be noticed and admired for about four minutes, and then a little bit
after that. (Is the whole “Four Minute Rock Star” thing starting to make sense
yet?)
Attention
is the basis of karaoke. Nobody sings so
that people will leave them alone. We
want to be noticed, admired, perhaps even idolized, but only for a scant moment
in time. Then, we’d like to go home,
drink a lot of water and go to bed.
But
how much is too much?
There
are many types of karaoke singers, and they all crave the love of the crowd. Here they are, with pointers on how to handle
them.
1.
The “Look At How Much I Don’t Care That I Can’t Sing (hiccup)” Guy.
You
know him well. He’s young, possibly so
young that this is his first time in a room full of adults with alcohol. He’s so excited to be a part of the grown-up
party that he wants you all to know that he’s gonna rip into Hotel California
for the sole reason that it’s about a hotel in California, and he has no idea
how long it is or how it goes. He will
also shout very loudly into the microphone, possibly damaging it. He craves your attention because this is his
moment, BAYBEE! Check him out and buy
him a shot! (Don’t.)
2. The “I Can’t Sing But If Somebody Buys Me A Drink I’ll Go Up” Chick.
I think it’s just great when a girl gets up there and clearly states, before her song even starts, that she has no idea how this song goes and she’s only up here because some guy dared her to do it. Oh please. What’s he giving you for this? A shot and his undivided attention? You would have gotten this anyway by just sitting there and talking about shoes all night. Tell you what, I’ll give you ten dollars cash right now to put the microphone down and go put on a sweater for crying out loud. This singer craves your attention because she craves everybody’s attention all the time (and tragically, she is crucial to the karaoke bar ecosystem).
3. The “I’m Gonna Do My Old Standard Even Though I Clearly Have No Grasp Of It” Guy.
A personal favorite. When the evening began, he remembered he wanted to do that same old chestnut he tackles from time to time, because THIS TIME it’s gonna be GREAT. Seven beers later, he’s lucky if he can remember how legs work and he stumbles his way through a song you used to really enjoy a few minutes before he began. But he’s happy he got through it, you’re happy YOU got through it, and NEXT TIME, he’s gonna be GREAT. He craves your attention because this is all he has, and he needs you to justify that for him one more time, he’d really appreciate that. (Go ahead and high five him gently, then help him back to his stool.)
4. The “Bachelorette Party” Chicks.
This
one’s pretty self-explanatory. Pour any
gaggle of women together in a large shaker with two gallons of Appletini and
serve over ice. Regardless of the event
they’re here to celebrate, the eight of them will undoubtedly get up there with
two mikes, and the two holding the mikes won’t sing or think to hold the mike
in front of the ones who do, but there will be at least one part of the song
they all know, and they will make up for their earlier silence by yelling that
part extra loud directly into your brain.
They crave your attention because SHOTS! BRITNEE JUST TURNED 22!! (Clap
politely for them, but keep your distance at all other parts of the evening, because
drunk women are even more dangerous in packs.)
5.
The “Deep Cuts” Guy.
He’s
a great singer, and has amazing range, but you’ll never know that, because you
have no idea what this song is. He
craves your attention but wants it to be “earned” by doing the b-side from a
single that was only released in Slovakia in 1975. (He gets a nod and a “nice job,” but he’ll be
back again, digging even deeper, because we deserve to hear what Emerson Lake
& Palmer were doing before they got all “commercial.”)
6. The “Discover Me” Chick.
This is Jewel in disguise, look it up. |
7. The “Game-Show Host” Guy.
He
knows his material, and he’ll make it sound great, often getting everybody looking
his way involved by walking up to them or asking for some noise mid-way. He may show up by himself, often wearing an
ironic t-shirt or even one of those really obnoxious LED light-up shirts, just
to get a reaction. He can sing, and
you’ll enjoy it, but it will undoubtedly leave a bad taste in your mouth
because his entire performance just screams, “trying too hard.” He craves your
attention because you are his only outlet for it, and if you ignore him, he
will undoubtedly leave the bar in a huff and go home all upset like a girl.
Oh,
crap. I just described myself.
Um..
I think we’re done here.
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