Karaoke: The Great Equalizer & One of Life's Greatest Pleasures
Here at the Spaulding house, we bust out the karaoke stuff any chance we get. I love it when people come over and say they can't sing and won't do karaoke, they'll just watch.
Yeah, right. Who can resist?
Most people end up at the microphones, (we have 6) sometimes we cannot even get them to leave the microphones. And that brings joy to my heart (well, not the hogging the microphone part, but the people opening up and being comfortable enough to do something outside of their comfort zone).
Now for the record, I am not a singer. I love karaoke in my basement. I love to sing karaoke in my basement. I don't sound like a singer, I sound like a karaoke "er", and not a good one at that. But that is what makes karaoke the great equalizer. When you stand by someone who can sing, you blend right in! Perfect. The overall sound, if you have some good singers sprinkled into the mix, is decent. Sometimes even great. And when people who drop by hear that not everyone is a good singer, but it still sounds okay, it gives them courage to try it as well.
How fun is it to be able to sing your heart out with those you love?
I consider it one of life's greatest pleasures. I hope no one around here ever tires of it.
There are few things you should consider if you want to host a karaoke party.
It sometimes takes a "dj" type approach to get things going. So you should have a list of "go to" songs, ones that can easily be sung, whose words and tunes are well known, and that work for a variety of voices.
Some crowd pleaser suggestions:
All American Rejects: Dirty Little Secrets
The Foundations: Build Me Up Buttercup
Train: Soul Sister
Train: Drops of Jupiter
Jimmy Eat World: The Middle
Fountains of Wayne: Stacy's Mom
Hinder: Lips of An Angel
Liz Phair: Why Can't I
Cheap Trick: I Want You To Want Me
Journey: Don't Stop Believing
Artists to avoid:
Back Street Boys, N' Sync, Boyz to Men; Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Neil Diamond or Elton John
Something you may not know:
Singing most Taylor Swift songs leaves you breathless. (There are about 6000 words in every song she writes, how does she sing them without getting dizzy?) I might actually have come close to fainting while singing You Belong With Me & Love Story a few times.
I understand the fear about doing karaoke in the real world, but karaoke in your own home, is a NO brainer. Singing is good for soul. Singing with those you love, is good for the heart.
