Karaoke Confessions

I have never been part of a choir, chorus, glee club, or a cappella group. I have never taken anything resembling formal voice training. The closest I came was when my high school speech class had us do a lip synch contest, where I performed The Joker by Steve Miller.

I may very well be tone deaf.

Yet, for some obscure reason, I've done more than my fair share of karaoke...

Maybe its the alcohol that's usually involved, maybe its a desire to impress cute girls, maybe I secretly like trying to embarass myself, I don't really know.

My karaoke debut was senior year of college, at a friend's 21st birthday at a bar on campus. Somehow I let it slip that I do a "more than passable" impression of Kermit the Frog, so I was requested to sing Rainbow Connection as a birthday present. I don't think the rest of the bar was so amused...

Later that year, I made the first of several appearances at the same bar, where I usually did some "old school" type rap song, most often Baby Got Back. It usually helped that a few of my female friends would get up onstage with to rock the booty. That seemed to keep the audience happy...

After returning to DC, I discovered a bar through coworkers called Recessions. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, they offer kareoke if you're brave enough to handle the underground ambiance and diverse clientele. Naturally a work happy hour turned late, and before I knew it I was leading a couple other guys in a mediocre rendition of Whip It by Devo. I'm told that my performance also featured a bit of the "Carlton Dance." I can neither confirm nor deny this...

Other highlights of my karaoke career have included Ice Ice Baby, Here I Go Again by Whitesnake, Sweet Child of Mine, and Livin on a Prayer. So if I show up on Friday, I don't expect to assault your eardrums with my voice...

But then again, I never show up expecting to sing...