Sunday, June 06, 2004
Whatever shall I sing in the Extreme Karaoke finals? I was looking at the songlist today while hanging around at Caffe e Torta, when I had far better things to do... like my Michael Jackson paper that's now a week late. But anyway, I was wondering what song to sing.
To be frank, I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of a karaoke competition, although that's exactly what Australian Idol is. But proper karaoke, I believe, is where you go out to a bar, get pissed with your friends, and sing amusing songs that make your friends and assorted strangers dance and hoot, and perhaps you could win a free drink from the capricious DJ. The aim of competition karaoke seems somewhat different: this is what I see it as:
1. To showcase your vocal dexterity
2. To do a crowd-pleaser rather than some song you happen to like yourself
3. To get people dancing (no boring ballads please!)
4. To be funny and/or ironic about it
5. To put your own stamp on the song
To me, the real challenge is to combine the vocal dexterity with the irony. While I like rap songs, I can actually sing and perhaps it would be a shame to 'waste' my performance on just rapping. Also, I don't want to do some song that's associated with a particular vocal style, like "I'm Outta Love" or "Insane in the Membrane".
Here are some songs I'd like to sing but nobody would get it and/or it would get old 30 seconds into the song:
"We Want Some Pussy!" by 2 Live Crew
"Electric Youth" by Debbie Gibson
"Run To Paradise" by the Choirboys
"Hit 'Em Up Style" by Blu Cantrell
"Danger! High Voltage!" by Electric Six
"Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake
Here are some songs that are guaranteed crowdpleasers but I've done them too many times and/or I think they're over-done at karaoke:
"Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot
"When Doves Cry" by Prince
"When Will I Be Famous?" by Bros
"Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child
any of those cliched 80s songs like "Walk Like An Egyptian," "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" or "Kids In America"
any 70s disco like "I Will Survive", "Dancing Queen" or "Play That Funky Music"
Here are some I'm considering at the moment:
"The Final Countdown" by Europe
"Need You Tonight" by INXS
"Hot In Herre" by Nelly
"Informer" by Snow
"Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice
"You're the Voice" by John Farnham
"Cherry Pie" by Warrant
And here are some that I'm quite sad they don't have on the list:
"Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley
"Hit That Perfect Beat" by Bronski Beat
"Come On Over" by Christina Aguilera
"Doing the Do" by Betty Boo
"She's Got That Vibe" by R. Kelly & Public Announcement
"How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston
"Pressure Down" by John Farnham
anything else by Justin Timberlake, esp "Senorita"
At this stage, I'm thinking that "Informer" would be the ultimate karaoke song, because nobody actually knows what the words are. But it's actually a very boring song. Come on, people! Tell me what I should sing, based on the criteria I've outlined here!
To be frank, I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of a karaoke competition, although that's exactly what Australian Idol is. But proper karaoke, I believe, is where you go out to a bar, get pissed with your friends, and sing amusing songs that make your friends and assorted strangers dance and hoot, and perhaps you could win a free drink from the capricious DJ. The aim of competition karaoke seems somewhat different: this is what I see it as:
1. To showcase your vocal dexterity
2. To do a crowd-pleaser rather than some song you happen to like yourself
3. To get people dancing (no boring ballads please!)
4. To be funny and/or ironic about it
5. To put your own stamp on the song
To me, the real challenge is to combine the vocal dexterity with the irony. While I like rap songs, I can actually sing and perhaps it would be a shame to 'waste' my performance on just rapping. Also, I don't want to do some song that's associated with a particular vocal style, like "I'm Outta Love" or "Insane in the Membrane".
Here are some songs I'd like to sing but nobody would get it and/or it would get old 30 seconds into the song:
"We Want Some Pussy!" by 2 Live Crew
"Electric Youth" by Debbie Gibson
"Run To Paradise" by the Choirboys
"Hit 'Em Up Style" by Blu Cantrell
"Danger! High Voltage!" by Electric Six
"Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake
Here are some songs that are guaranteed crowdpleasers but I've done them too many times and/or I think they're over-done at karaoke:
"Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot
"When Doves Cry" by Prince
"When Will I Be Famous?" by Bros
"Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child
any of those cliched 80s songs like "Walk Like An Egyptian," "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" or "Kids In America"
any 70s disco like "I Will Survive", "Dancing Queen" or "Play That Funky Music"
Here are some I'm considering at the moment:
"The Final Countdown" by Europe
"Need You Tonight" by INXS
"Hot In Herre" by Nelly
"Informer" by Snow
"Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice
"You're the Voice" by John Farnham
"Cherry Pie" by Warrant
And here are some that I'm quite sad they don't have on the list:
"Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley
"Hit That Perfect Beat" by Bronski Beat
"Come On Over" by Christina Aguilera
"Doing the Do" by Betty Boo
"She's Got That Vibe" by R. Kelly & Public Announcement
"How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston
"Pressure Down" by John Farnham
anything else by Justin Timberlake, esp "Senorita"
At this stage, I'm thinking that "Informer" would be the ultimate karaoke song, because nobody actually knows what the words are. But it's actually a very boring song. Come on, people! Tell me what I should sing, based on the criteria I've outlined here!
