OMG!!! Miley Cyrus sings karaoke!

So, you think you've been having a slow news day?

Every few days, this dedicated karaoke reporter goes out looking for late breaking karaoke news that is important for you, my valued readers. The big news in the karaoke world today is that Miley Cyrus celebrated Christmas with her family by singing karaoke. Here is just a sampling of the plethora of news reports:

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00037564.html
http://www.celebridoodle.com/celebridoodle/2010/12/miley-cyrus-karaoke-christmas.html
http://gawker.com/5718890/miley-cyrus-celebrates-christmas-with-a-cant-be-tamed-karaoke-sister-act
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/Miley+Cyrus-88914.html
http://entertainment.newsplurk.com/2010/12/miley-cyrus-sings-karaoke-on-christmas.html
http://www.musicrooms.net/rock-and-pop/22641-miley-cyrus-entertains-family-with-karaoke-performance-on-christmas-day.html
http://www.ineedmyfix.com/2010/12/27/miley-cyrus-loves-her-karaoke-video/
http://www.wenn.com/all-news/cyrus-joins-sister-for-christmas-day-karaoke/
http://gossipblender.com/gossip/cyrus-joins-sister-for-christmas-day-karaoke/
http://anythingdisney.livejournal.com/
http://www.durianboy.com/2010/12/miley-cyrus-spends-christmas-karaoke-ing-with-the-family-in-nashville/
http://www.gossipweasel.com/miley-cyrus-had-karaoke-christmascelebuzz/
http://jackskin.com/2010/12/26/miley-cyrus-sings-karaoke-on-christmas-people-magazine/
http://www.gnepse.com/miley-cyrus-sings-karaoke-on-christmas/
http://entertainmentoday.us/miley-cyrus-sings-karaoke-on-christmas
http://www.turkyurdu.com/hollywood/miley-cyrus-sings-karaoke-on-christmas/
http://bradsbeard.com/miley-cyrus-christmas-karaoke-with-the-family/
http://businessmobilenews.com/?p=1354
http://abendjournal.com/2010/12/27/miley-cyrus-sings-karaoke-on-christmas/
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b217932_miley_cyrus_has_very_merry_bong-free.html
http://nsbnews.net/content/371777-miley-cyrus-sings-karaoke-christmas-people-magazine

Surprisingly, this topic beat out karaoke news stories about Simon Crowell, and also beat out stories about people getting killed in the Philippines for singing My Way. With my tongue firmly lodged in my cheek, I am so glad that I decided to have a look today, because it would have been a shame for my readers to have missed this!

The definitive list of Jewish Christmas songs

I present the most complete list of Christmas songs written by Jews:

1. "The Christmas Song", Mel Torme
2. "The Christmas Waltz",  Sammy Kahn and Jule Styne
3. "Getting Ready for Christmas Day", Paul Simon
4. "Holly Jolly Christmas", Johnny Marks
5. "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", Johnny Marks
6. "I'll Be Home for Christmas", Buck Ram
7. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", Edward Pola, and George Wyle
8. "Let it Snow, Let it Snow", Sammy Kahn and Jule Styne
9. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", Johnny Mark
10. "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", Johnny Marks
11. "Run Rudolph Run", Johnny Marks
12. "Silver Bells", Livingston and Evans
13. "Sleigh Ride",  Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish
14. "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays", Bob Allen
15. "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", Dr. Seuss and Albert Hague
16. "We Need a Little Christmas", Jerry Herman
17. "White Christmas", Irving Berlin
18. "Winter Wonderland", Richard B. Smith and Felix Bernard

The song "O Holy Night" has been proposed as another song for this list, but I have seen a number of references that say that Adolphe Adam was not Jewish.

In my previous blog on this topic, a completely valid comment was made "songwriters need to write songs, and Christmas is a huge market waiting to be exploited." I think maybe a better question might be why John the Revelator is so obsessed with this topic!!!

Yet another update on "getting discovered through karaoke"

As my faithful followers can attest, I am on a lifetime quest to find a famous performer who made it to the big time by being discovered singing at a karaoke bar. While I have personally heard quite a number of karaoke singers who deserve to be made rich and famous, I am still unaware of this actually happening.

Let me be clear. I am talking about someone getting up on stage at a karaoke bar where there just happens to be a talent scout. And the rest becomes history. I am not talking about someone going into a karaoke booth and recording a demo tape, like Mary J. Blige. I am not talking about someone who won a karaoke contest, like Coco Lee. And I am not talking about someone who was discovered through American Idol.

I recently posted the story of how Garrett Hedlund auditioned for the movie Country Strong by going to a karaoke bar. That's not what I am talking about.

Here is another example of what I am not talking about: Tony DeCarlo was discovered through a MySpace video. The group Boston was looking for a lead singer and they happened upon a MySpace video that Tony's daughter had posted. And the rest was history. Great story, tear jerking, even. But it's not what I am looking for.

Shana Goodman suggested another singer who might have been discovered at a karaoke joint. She posted on the LinkedIn group "Karaoke Business Matrix" that the new lead singer for Journey had been discovered that way. Initially, I passed her comment off as a confusion between Boston and Journey. Shana, I apologize! I should never have doubted you!!

I finally looked this up today. The position of lead singer for Journey has been replaced a few times. Their first lead singer was Steve Perry. He could not make one of their tours because of a hip injury that he got while hiking. Perry was replaced by Steve Augeri, who had been in a few bands before. Then Augeri developed a chronic throat infection and needed to be replaced.

Arnel Pineda was brought in as the next lead singer. He was discovered through a YouTube video of him singing Journey songs with his cover band, The Zoo.

YouTube. Not a karaoke bar. Once again, a near miss. I continue on my quest.

Stories of losing your karaoke virginity

We all remember our first time. The nervousness, the anticipation, the excitement!

My first karaoke performance was in a bar in Appleton. I sang James Taylor's version of Steamroller Blues, and I totally rocked it. I mean none of those dulcet Sweet Bay James tones... I tore that song apart with my teeth and spat it out. A woman came up from the audience and stuffed a dollar bill in my jeans. (If you were there, you may remember it slightly different. You tell it your way. I'll tell it mine.)

I surfed the net to find other stories of the loss of karaoke virginity. I hope you enjoy!

First story
It was an aborted ski trip. He found himself at a little motel in a snowstorm. Since there was nothing to do, he headed for the bar, and got caught up in the camaraderie of karaoke and kamikazes.

Things started getting a little fuzzy by then, and the next thing I knew, I was up on stage with the mic in my hand, singing Folsom Prison Blues.  I had never karaoked before, and I had always thought it was pretty lame.  But there I was, in front of a dozen or so of my new best buds, singing my heart out. And I gotta say: I tore that shit up.  I was the Man In Black, even if it was black Gore-Tex.

http://butterbeanandcobra.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-i-lost-my-karaoke-virginity-in.html

Second story
She describes herself as one who always listens to the other people torturing karaoke songs, wanting to sing but always leaving for home with her tail between her legs. A party with co-workers changed all that.

“But last Saturday, I did it.  On Saturday, I lost my karaoke virginity!”
“Well, what was it like?”
“It hurt a little at first…but then it was smooth sailing.”

http://kenyonreview.org/blog/?p=10236

Third story
Here is another story of the loss of karaoke virginity that happened with coworkers and a party. To put her courageous feat in perspective, this is how she described watching her boyfriend sing:

"I would dig my nails into the palms of my hands and go through the motions of extreme anxiety, as if it was me on the stage. I would experience similar feelings if I saw others go on stage and bomb – feeling sympathetic stage fright."

She finally lost her karaoke virginity when she was out celebrating Christmas with co-workers. 

"Someone suggested karaoke and I egged them on, morbidly curious about seeing my boss sing. Turns out, he’s another one of those closet karaoke enthusiasts who would probably, if given the chance, sing Backstreet Boys tunes in front of an audience. In the space of half an hour, I found myself in a booth, helping people to choose songs, watching my boss belt out Wham! and drinking whisky. Someone passed me the microphone, I sang Tainted Love. It’s done."

http://captio.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/karaoke-done/ 

A bunch of fourth stories
There are a number of interesting karaoke stories on the website below. I have taken a few excerpts:

"Hi, My name is Moe, and I am a Karaoke junkie. Come, sit closer, and hear the tale of how a good and innocent young girl was lured into the dark underbelly of the karaoke world, and how, after losing her karaoke virginity (at about 18) became the notorious Mistress M- Kamikaze Karaoke Junkie (a.k.a. Miss Kitty)."

"I decided to try Billy Joel's Uptown Girl. I massacred the song by singing a verse that didn't belong, and created further damage as my voice cracked while singing a line... My first karaoke bar experience occurred in Montreal in the summer of 1993, at a club that boasted the perfect mix of atmosphere, alcohol, and good singers. Ever since then, I've been a karaoke slut."   

"All of a sudden, my love for karaoke turned into an outright addiction." 


"It took me 6 weeks to decide that I had enough guts to hold a microphone and sing into it."

"I was "dragged" to a small café on Bloor Street in Toronto. That was it. I got the bug. I was hooked. Within months, all of my friends and my free time included karaoke."

http://www.dogandponysound.com/fun_stories.htm

Fifth story

"Details about the sing song, I really have no idea how to describe......... but the last 20 minutes was epic! Everyone of us stood up, I mean every single person in the room, and sang whatever song was playing. I don't know why, but I had a temporary voice conversion after that."

http://wseen.blogspot.com/2010/12/first-time-going-karaoke.html

Jewish Christmas songs, once more

Since we are in the Christmas season, and since I am talking about two Jewish songwriters (Pomus and Shuman), I will revisit the question of Jewish Christmas songs. A year ago, I wrote a post about Christmas songs that were written by Jews. I found nine such songs.

In April, I posted an addendum with a tenth Jewish Christmas song.

Just recently, Mathew Semple made me aware that another Jew, a certain Paul Simon, has just released a Christmas song. This brings the tally up to eleven.

Update on KaraokeCam

I reported earlier that the New Orleans KaraokeCam at Cats Meow was down. As far as this reporter knows, this is still the case. But that does not keep them from winning a prestigious award. EarthCam selected KaraokeCam as one of the 25 most interesting webcams.

The famous "Cat's Meow" has been catering to karaoke fans for over 20 years and you have a live bird's eye view of all the action. And this very cool webcam gives you the option to mouse over the screen when there is no live action and choose a time frame from the previous night so you can re-live some extreme karaoke moments.

I am excited that karaoke is receiving some long due recognition. Along with Rich da Barber Cam and Sea Monkey Cam.

Is this getting discovered?

Country Strong will be opening in theaters Dec 22, 2010. The movie is about country singer songwriter played by Garrett Hedlund, and  the comeback of a country singer, played by Gwenyth Paltrow.

Paltrow's connection with karaoke has been documented before in this blog. Hedlund also has a connection to karaoke. He auditioned in a karaoke bar.

I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea here. Hedlund was not discovered in a karaoke bar. Getting discovered through karaoke is a favorite topic of mine:
Getting discovered through karaoke
Update on getting discovered
Finally some real research on karaoke

Just in case you don't have time to read these fantastic blog posts, let me summarize. I still have not found a celebrity who was discovered because there was a talent scout at a karaoke bar who happened to hear them.

Hedlund came close to being the first recipient of the Discovered Through Karaoke Prize. Unfortunately, his performance was an official audition. The director, Shana Feste, didn't know whether Hedlund could sing. What better way to check this out, than at a karaoke bar?

Update on "the most maligned karaoke song"

I had a previous post about a KJ who was charging for people to sing Don't Stop Believin. Evidently my post was not the only outcry. There was a follow up interview that explains why the KJ has taken such strong measures to combat one song in his collection.

Roger Niner explained in the interview that he got tired of hearing it, so he took it out of his songbook. Even then, people kept asking for it. Despite not having the song listed in his book, he had a night where numerous people asked for the song. In his words: "I just snapped. I'm not going to delete it, because that's just going to be a disaster. So I said, 'Alright, I'm going to make some money from this.'"

The interview ends with this comment from Niner: "... that song, I just -- I can't do it anymore. It just drove me to the point of insanity."

The song is among the most popular karaoke songs, if not the most popular. People want to sing it. These are the people who spend money on drinks and make it possible for a club to hire a KJ.

Just to balance this out, I quote from an excellent article about the song, written by Dorian Lyndsky of the Guardian:

It was a song inspired by failure. Journey started life as a jazz-rock band in San Francisco in 1973, but they were floundering and hitless when, four years later, they recruited singer Steve Perry, who was having little luck himself. Their fortunes drastically improved, but the sentiments of Don't Stop Believin' harked back to the lean years. Before keyboardist Jonathan Cain joined in 1980, he was also struggling while living on LA's Sunset Boulevard. Each time he called home in despair, his dad would tell him: "Don't stop believing or you're done, dude."

That's the kind of positive stuff I like to hear!

Celebrity karaoke - Paul Rudd

Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson will be vying for the heart of  Reese Witherspoon in How Do You Know, opening Dec 17, 2010. I found an interview of the Rudd and Wilson that gave a little foretaste. Paul Rudd will be singing some hysterical Teddy Pendergrass song to Witherspoon. And... this is a favorite number for him when he sings karaoke.

Nothing on the official website tells me what he is going to sing, so I guess I will just have to see the movie for myself.

Rudd is a big fan of karaoke. Here is a quote from Entertainment Weekly


"My big karaoke friends are Bobby Cannavale, [Role Models director] David Wain, Joe Lo Truglio [from I Love You, Man], Mather Zickel [the best man in Rachel Getting Married], and sometimes Peter Dinklage. We've all 'raoked together over the years. We rent rooms. It isn't like we're going to a bar. So it's like four guys sitting around singing. We'll often say, ''Tonight we're doing songs that we've never done before.'' We all want to impress the others with the song choices. A lot of it is lost '70s classics. It'll be great if somebody busts out a little ''Shannon'' by Henry Gross, or ''So Very Hard to Go'' by Tower of Power. I love ''The Worst That Could Happen'' by Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge. We all love to sing, but none of us are singers."

And here is a YouTube video of Rudd singing More Than A Feeling.


"We all love to sing, but none of us are singers."

Al Jarreau

I was surprised to hear this week that jazz singer Al Jarreau was born of a Seventh-Day Adventist minister and church pianist in Milwaukee. I suppose everyone else in Milwaukee knew that. I am a transplant, being born 117 miles and 7 realities away in Baraboo, so I am not up on all the famous people who are from Milwaukee.

In 1962, Jarreau was a psychology student at University of Iowa. Ben Marcus hired him to sing in his lounge. He was billed as the "Singing Psychologist".


Jarreau returned to Milwaukee in November to performed for the 75th anniversary of the Marcus Corporation. This is what he said about the performance: "At the end of the dinner and presentations, the band and I—you know the guys—did a 50 minute burn that I would describe as one of the most intense and delightful performances of my life. It was ‘the zone’ where time slows down to the point where you can reach out and move the pieces on the chessboard at will and in slow motion. Athletes talk about it all the time."
Read the full diary entry here

"where times slows down to the point where you can ... move the pieces on the chess board ... in slow motion"
Cool.

What karaoke songs does an opera diva sing?

Do opera and karaoke go together?  Maybe.  Here are song karaoke favorites from opera singers.

Australian soprano Rachelle Durkin
" I was always in love with Whitney Houston and Maria Carey, so I like to sing like that every now and then."
http://www.mcv.gaynewsnetwork.com.au/features/marriage-the-mozart-way-008194.html

"I'm a classically trained singer, and while I don't generally do opera at karaoke bars, I do sing a lot of show tunes, standards, and pop songs that I have carefully picked out because I can sing them in my lower range and have them sound like pop songs."
BirdGirl
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101105090024AAqT46w

Barbara Pasqa, a semi-pro opera singer from Uniontown PA entered a karaoke contest back in April of this year. Her songs? You Raise Me Up and I Could Have Danced All Night.
http://www.allbusiness.com/humanities-social-science/visual-performing-arts-theater/14263707-1.html

Carla Thensen Hanson, an American soprano, was asked if she sang opera:
"Only when drunk. The last time I went I was with my sisters and we were all quite intoxicated because it was for another sister’s wedding. We sang We Are Family. Naturally."
http://www.rochestermagazine.com/10/or/so/questions/with/carla/thelenhanson/opera/singer/story-714.html

Just in case you actually want to sing an aria next time you are out for karaoke, you can download your favorite track: http://www.opera-karaoke.com/index.html

Karaoke Man - the movie

I am always excited when I hear of another movie that features karaoke. Even more excited when I hear of a movie that is about karaoke. And being a goofy romance? I can hardly contain myself!

Max, a comic book illustrator, is told that he should wear a superhero costume in order to have the courage to sing karaoke. Max asks if that is cheating. The answer? "Not if you get laid out of the deal!"



Karaoke Man. Coming to a theater near you. Maybe.

New strange places to sing karaoke

I have had a few posts about odd places to sing karaoke. My last post on the subject was about the karaoke cabbie. Before that, I listed a few places in Texas, including the Houston airport.

I just found out that Houston airport will once again be providing karaoke for their travelers. Here is news coverage from last year's karaoke.



Another airport karaoke opportunity popped up just before I published this. According to StuckAtTheAirport.com (what a great URL name!) You can also sing karaoke at the Detroit Airport this holiday season.

More on karaoke for your health

No doubt you have already read my blog on all the wonderful health benefits of karaoke. It would appear that fitness guru Billy Banks, Jr. read my blog as well!  Have a look at Cardioke!

Sing karaoke with Lionel Richie!

While I am in a Motown mood, I should mention that Lionel Richie will be going on tour in Australia and New Zealand in March of 2011. I caught an interview of him. Richie had this to say about his show:

"Just tell them it will be the best karaoke night you could go to. Because that's a fact. We are going to have a big ole' karaoke jam with lots of funk and lots of ballads and there'll be romance and laughs and some great music."

If you want to warm up your Motown karaoke before you head to the land down under, stop in at MJ Cafe and Martini Bar on Sunday nights. Revelator Karaoke will be serving up the best Motown karaoke in the area. Singing starts at 7:30.


MJ Cafe and Martini Bar
A relaxed eatery and martini bar
6901 W. Brown Deer Rd
Milwaukee
(414) 377-2524

Save the Last Dance

I was in high school when I first heard the song Save the Last Dance for Me. I thought it was a dumb song. "But don't forget who's taking you home, and in whose arms your gonna be"? I mean really. It sounds like the guy is getting all possessive of the woman who took to a dance. But there is a whole lot more to the story.

The lyrics of Save the Last Dance for Me were written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Doc had polio at a young age and needed crutches just to walk. His wife Willi was a beautiful actress and dancer who loved the nightlife.

Not only couldn't he dance with his lovely wife, but he felt out of place with the Broadway crowd that she attracted.  He had this to say:
"I had a house, a swimming pool, all that shit, and we had nothing but these Broadway characters hanging around. None of them paid any attention to me and if they asked what kind of songs I wrote I felt embarrassed. If I had written a fifth-rate Broadway song, my God, they would have been proud."

Willi and Doc were married in 1957.
"Save the Last Dance" was first recorded in 1960.
Willi divorced Doc in 1965.

All of a sudden the song has become rather poignant. Doc, I take back what I said about your song when I was a teenager.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Last_Dance_for_Me
 http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_presley_doc_pomus_mort_shuman.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Pomus
http://www.felderpomus.com/docpomus1.html
http://launch.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/billybeartrivia/message/141417?unwrap=1&var=1
http://wfmu.org/LCD/23/docpomus.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2005/06/30/2005-06-30_nobody_s_cripple__doc_pomus_.html

The most maligned karaoke song

 I saw something online that really shook me. There is a KJ in San Francisco who is charging folks $5 to sing Don't Stop Believin'!

To me, this is sacrilege. My loyal readers will remember a blog of mine ("What should I sing?") where I combined the lists of best karaoke songs from 41 websites. Don't Stop Believin' came out on top. Of the 41 "best of" lists, 14 of them included Don't Stop Believin'. The next song in line (Total Eclipse of the Heart) was mentioned only 11 times. DSB is clearly the winner. This is not my opinion. This is the consensus of the experts on the web! 

I might add that Don't Stop Believin' did not make it on my list of worst karaoke songs. I searched for lists of worst karaoke songs, and combined the results from 19 websites.

I am sorry Mr. SF KJ. People like the song.