I rarely post on here but do look at the posts every now and again. They amuse me to no end sometimes. I am an avid karaoker and not a great singer though I used to be quite good when I was younger. I also love observing the reactions and behaviours of the karaoke goers as it can be quite interesting too, particularly at some competitions.
My girlfriends and I had been attending some of the heats of the Rydges karaoke over the last few weeks and they decided to take me there for my birthday last night to listen to the grand finalists. Great night! Loved the atmosphere and some of the singers were simply amazing. I have to agree that they definitely chose the best 3 performers of the evening. The 3rd place getter had a great range and good song choices but a word of advice would be to use less vibrato as it was definitely overused.
The 1st and 2nd place positions were my interesting people to observe on the night. Firstly, I did not know any of the contestants. I was hoping that The Prayer guy would be there as I had heard him sing there before in a heat. Another good performance! However, I would like to say that from my opinion and seemingly a large proportion of the crowd that were there, that they got the order wrong between these two. The judge's winner did a grand job of his 2 songs, great power and good entertainment. As an older woman his Just a Gigolo brought back many memories!
But the Let Me Entertain You fellow was something else. It was just so different and I had never seen anything like it at karaoke before. It was pure entertainment. And his first song, a James Blunt number; it was truly impossible to believe it was not James blunt singing himself, and the passion and emotion ... this boy has talent! However, you can't change the judge's opinions of course.
But what was more interesting was the behaviour of these two throughout the night. The Let Me Entertain You fellow sat with his wife and was very quiet, even reading the paper. He rarely spoke at all, and looked very nervous. But then he gets up there and did that!! Then back and quiet again. Funny how you think a performer will be the life of the party at all times. And you could tell he was very disappointed when he did not win, but he went to collect his prize and even went to congratulate the winner, and judging by previous posts they must know each other.
The winner was more interesting. Karaoke ethics man ... hmmm. This is where I ask what ethics you stand by? It was quite apparent that while the young man sang Goodbye My Lover you pulled faces as if there was a grudge or issue against him, and when the song was over it was also observed that you instructed those around you not to applaud. It took a shine away from your win as far as my friends and I were concerned. Humility comes not from losing humbly or winning graciously after a competition is over, but how you perform both on and off the stage while the competition is run. Judging on both these accounts, the younger fellow was by far the better performer as far as most of the crowd was concerned.
Submitted by Lyn on 07-06-2008

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