I have never done karaoke before, but I felt that New York City is a good place to start. Anything goes here and embarrassment is never a factor. We ventured out to Alphabet City where we found a Karaoke bar named Sing Sing. This is a very unique karaoke bar; there are rooms you can rent out for an hour and you can then practice singing before actually performing in public. There is no stage, just a big screen over the bar that displays the words. Also, the mic is passed around so the spotlight isn't so intensely focused on one person.
I observed others during their turn in the spotlight and noticed their jovial faces and animated enthusiasm, which made me a little less nervous. Everyone was there to have a good time. One gentleman did a rendition of "Better Man" by Pearl Jam; his voice was a clone of Eddie Vedder. I had quite the act to follow! The first note of my song played and I perked up and screamed, "That's me!" The bartender rushed the mic over to me. I gripped onto it as tightly as I could and glued my eyes to the screen. The first words came out and I couldn't believe it was me singing. I chose the song "Strong Enough" by Sheryl Crow. I could hear my friends and everyone else chanting along with me, but I had the mic. I belted out my best effort, and before I knew it, the song was over. My time in the spotlight was short. All that fuss for 2 minutes of miniscule fame! I then had to give up the mic, which was hard. Karaoke is almost addicting. I heard a rumor, though, after I gave the mic back. Someone told me that they turn the mic off if the person is a bad singer…I wonder if they did that to me?
