Competitive Karaoke: Singing for the Win

[Fans of music, performing, and making total asses of themselves in front of lots of people should pay particular attention to this article.]

Those of you that have that know me well (or have met me for more than five minutes) know I do one thing pretty frequently: sing. No, I'm not always belting out the high notes at the top of my lungs (though sometimes I am), but more often than not, I have a song in my head and softly trickling out of my mouth. And up until recently, I hadn't found the proper outlet for this melodic hobby. You see, between school, work, and my other obligations, I had, for a while, kind of fallen out of music. Whereas once upon a time I was always a member of a few choirs or a Capella groups here and there, for the past few years, I had been completely without such extracurriculars. That is until one of my friends stumbled upon a local little-known gem of singing fun: the New York City Karaoke League.

Sure, everyone has done karaoke. And sure, in NYC, you can find a fun karaoke joint in just about any neighborhood. But I bet few if ANY of you have ever done competitive karaoke. Now, I know what you're thinking: competitive karaoke? That's ridiculous! And you'd be right--it is ridiculous. Ridiculous amounts of fun! ::wink, nudge, wink:: This may be a confusing concept for some, so let's start at the beginning. Basically, the league proceeds as follows: you assemble a team of 5-6 singers (ideally with an even male/female ratio) and once a week your team goes head-to-head against another team. Each team puts forth a male solo, a female solo, and a group number, and those songs are judged against each other by two other teams in the league, with scoring based on the singers' sound (pitch, volume, accuracy, etc) and showmanship (how well you "perform" the song, which could involve props or costumes if you so choose). Teams accumulate wins and losses each week depending on how each of your team's songs do against the other team's, and are then ranked based on your overall record and total team score. At the end of the regular season, these ranking become seedings for the playoffs, with the league champion being crowned after two weeks of post-season play.

But there's more. You can't simply pick any song you want each week (though the first match-up and the finals are usually open choice). Each week, there is a different them that your songs have to fit within, adding an extra layer of strategy to the proceedings. Past seasons have seen themes like one-hit wonders, cover songs, magic night, role reversal (where guys sing girl songs and vice-versa), British invasion, and other creative choices. The post-season gets even more specific, pitting specific artists, bands or genres against one another, with the higher seeded team getting first pick of which side to sing for. And all of this goes down with drink specials, cheap food, and in a friendly-yet-competitive atmosphere.

The league has seen 5 successful seasons so far, with Season 6 set to kick-off on February 16th. If you think you've got the chops and can round up a team of friends who are looking for a fun Wednesday night diversion, head over to the registration page to get in while you still can. Registration closes on the 11th, so if you want in, you better move with the quickness. If you have doubts, feel free to come to the pre-season party to get a feel for the crowd and atmosphere next Wednesday, the 9th @ 7:30pm at PULSE Karaoke. And for more information about the league, scoring, and past seasons, check out the website (which I think is getting a full overhaul sometime soon). So warm up those vocals, start thinking of song choices, prepare to shake your respective money-makers, and I hope to see you all up on that stage!