kara’okE, yO!

kara'okE, yO!
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Yo! Kara'oke! Wanted to share with you all what I have been through for the last 2 weeks!. The "S-H-O-R-T" assignment back in Penang Island is finally over! And in the final days of staying over there, my colleagues suggested going to a nearby karaoke in the downtown area. It's a BoX painted with RED, so you should be able to guess which one I am referring to, right? Initially, I wanted to turn down their offer, coz that day was damn tiring after a whole day work. But since my colleagues are so persuasive, and thinking that I may never get see them after returning back to KL, I agreed to joined them finally.

So, once we reached there, we were greeted by the nice foods (coz we pay them NICE also) and we were seated in a pretty compact room with the karao'ke set in front. My colleagues and I started to queue for the buffet dinner and shortly after our meal, they began...and I still haven't finished with the ice cream. So, I just sit aside near the speaker at the end of a corner and hear them sing.

Since the singing of my first collegue is not that "acceptable" to the ears, I try to "divert" my attention to the surroundings. Then I see the karaoke set. 1st question that came to my mind was, "Who the hell in this world invented this?" He must be a damn genius! The karao'ke set seems to be quite simple, one microphone which amplifies the voice signals over the amplifier, which then channeled to the speakers. And of course there is this TV set with synchronized lyrics, and a computer with pre-installed software with a remote control. It's such a simple idea, yet no one has thought about it previously.

the INVENTION

My google searches found that the person responsible for this awesome invention is actually a Japanese guy by the name of Daisuke Inoue in the early 1980s. And the sad thing is, this so-hai never bothered to get his invention patented, so businessmen just used his idea and earn big buck$$$, with NO royalty fees paid to him! Sad...The world is just a unfair right? But though he is a sohai, deep in my heart I still salute this person 100% coz he has brought a lot of happiness and entertainment to the world through his invention. (BTW,so-hai is a Canto word, and it's quite vulgar, but i still prefer to use it...hehe...coz no other word can best describe it, so apologies from me if it offended you...)

the so-hai

So, half an hour has passed, I was forced to sing a song for them. I told them, you'll regret later. So I just simply choose a song, and at that time I choose an oldie, Hotel California by The Eagles. It is good to hear the original version, but not my version. Normally, I don't go to kara'oke for a reason. As far as I could recall, I think should be less than 10 times. So, now you know why i rejected their offer initially? The key are so hard to reach for me, and my voice range is just too narrow. If you wanna compare, this chart below shows where I stand. Among all, I am the WORST!

Voice Range Chart Comparison

If there is a better word to describe my singing, it would be "Pulling the Cow up the Tree" a.k.a 拉牛上树 in Chinese. Try to imagine the MOOOing sound of the cow! In the end, that is the only song I sang. By the way, I found out that most of the songs my colleagues sang are more or less from the standard few list of singers, mostly HK Pop and MandoPop songs. The one I could remember was Gary Chaw, Leo Ku, Guang Liang, Eason Chan, and Beyond. Talking of Beyond, one of my colleagues (Friend no. 1) could sing "Boundless Oceans Vast Skies" a.k.a. 海闊天空 [4th song on disc 1 for those who don't know] so well that he sounds nearly perfect. All of us in the room just went quiet and listen to him singing...I consider myself lucky to have him with us that night. So far, he is the best I came across.

Pulling the Cow up the Tree" a.k.a 拉牛上树 [MooOOOOO!...]

The way I see it, kara'oke is not just for us to show off your great singing skills, but somehow it has got more than that. It serves a place where you get to 'shout away' all your worries, pressure, and troubles, well, at least for a while. Then, when you're happy of sad, there is always a gang of buddies around to share it.

Shout off all your PRESSURES!

And one great thing about kara'oke is, it's role of search of new talent, and a training ground for those who wanna make singing their career. Ask any contestant of the Idol series, One Million Star or China Supergirl, I can be sure that they are super fans of 'kara'oke. At least I know Joey Yung, the current HK Singing Queen, is one of the super-patron of kara'oke during her schooling years.

Have any idea who she is?

So, kara'oke lovers out there, just dream BIG, and you may stand a chance of becoming someone BIG, but in any case you've got the singing talent like MINE, then I suggest you just...errhh...sit aside and enjoy the singing instead...