Karen Valentines' Day

I woke up this morning thinking about Karen Valentine. Not really sure why. Maybe I should ask my wife if today is some special day today that would remind me of Karen? Or maybe I won't ask her.

Karen Valentine, of course, played a teacher in the early 1970's sitcom Room 222. Now I'll tell you everything I can remember about the TV show. It was a sitcom about a teacher who taught in room 222 in a school somewhere. There were students, I think. And some other teachers, maybe. And some contrived, but mildly funny stuff happened. And there was the aptly named Karen Valentine. She was so uber-cute. Her face was indelibly etched into my pre-pubescent and partly pubescent mind. I swear, I could recognize a jpeg image of her with just three pixels.

Why was she so memorable, and the show not so much? You could take a few guesses. Either 1) the show was just plain stupid, like any other early 70's sitcom, 2) my memory from those years was destroyed by trying to keep up with Andre the Giant in drinking beer, or 3) I watched the show with my pre-pubescent mind, and she was uber-cute. Any or all of these guesses may be true.

Andre the Giant and Robin Wright in Princess Bride

Speaking of Andre, I just read an interesting factoid about him. Wikipedia (which is the authoritative source for all celebrity gossip) states that on at least three occasions, he drank in excess of 100 beers in one sitting. This has been an inspiration for me. I have been trying to bulk up so that I (like he) can become a pro wrestler. But, since I lack the necessary culture and refinement for pro wrestling, I may have to settle for being an opera singer. At any rate, I know I need to find a fall back career. My days as an applied mathematician are numbered, since nearly every number has already been computed.

Anyway, back to Karen Valentine. As I lay in bed this morning, thinking of her, naturally I started pondering about whether she had sung karaoke. Gosh, wouldn't it be neat if she was discovered when she was singing karaoke? As my faithful reader(s) will know, my search for a singer who was discovered through karaoke has been tireless. I have researched Mary J. Blige and Koko Lee, Tommy DeCarlo of Boston, Garrett Hedlund, who appeared with Gwenyth Paltrow in the movie "Country Strong", Arnel Pineda of Journey, Taylor Swift, the group Steel Magnolias, and most recently James Garner.

Discovered by singing karaoke?

Although my search has been valiant and tireless, it has also been fruitless. Could Karen Valentine be my first fruit?

I grabbed my brand new Kindle Fire and looked her up on Wiki. Gosh darn it, was I in luck! Ed Sullivan saw Karen lip-syncing to the song Blame it on the Bossa Nova, and said he wanted her on his show. Not only that, but she was caught a second time lip-syncing and got the job on Room 222 when she was seen lip-syncing.

Now, I realize that lip-syncing is not as respected as karaoke. I would argue, however, that lip-syncing feeds the same neurological dysfunction as karaoke. Both serve to lead you to believe, if only for the moment, that you too are famous. I would say that lip-syncing is the moral equivalent of karaoke.

Milli Vanilli

Ok, so you are not convinced that Karen Valentine's lip-syncing is the same as being discovered singing karaoke? Yeah. Me neither. But... another thing to consider is that karaoke wasn't around in 1969 when Karen was on her way to becoming every pre-pubescent boy's Valentine. Karaoke didn't get its start until 1971. Furthermore, although it was invented in 1971, karaoke had no purpose until Don't Stop Believin' was released in 1981. There just wasn't a need for it.

I know some of my readers may deprecate lip-syncing, or may even express strong disapproval of it. Before you cast judgment, I implore you to watch this entire lip-sync video.

Enjoy!