How is public karaoke still a thing?
Next week I plan to visit a friend who lives out of state. We've been both excitedly planning what we'll be doing together (mostly hiking and drinking it sounds like). In addition to all these activities, my friend asked if I would be up for going to a karaoke bar later. I was like, "Of course!" I love karaoke, and we used to play Twitch Sings! (RIP) all the time during the pandemic years.
I went on Yelp and looked to see what karaoke bars she had in her town, but the only places I found were old-fashioned public karaoke where you sing in front of the whole bar. How is this still a thing? That's not karaoke — that's open mic night.
Back when I lived in NYC, the most popular karaoke bars were the Asian-style ones with the private rooms. You'd grab four of your friends, head to Korea Town, take a scary elevator to a fifth floor dive bar covered in Christmas lights, pay $10/per hour, per person to scream unlimited songs while one friend bangs a tambourine and the other complains about the strobe lights. The music book would be huge and sticky. All the music videos on the screen were old, foreign and didn't actually match whatever song you were singing. The bottles of Soju came with four shot glasses even though everyone drank them solo since they only cost $8 a pop. Then, after two hours, the server would pop his head in to say we only had five minutes left and so we all, in a panic, would put in "Wonderwall" or "I Want It That Way" or some other song that everybody knew to close things out on a high.
Now, to me, that is real karaoke and that's the version I prefer. I complained to my friend about it, but she didn't see what the big deal was. Public karaoke is the only version she knows, but to me they just feel like "World's Worst Amateur Hour." Like Open Mic Night, except with people less talented than the people who actually show up to open mic nights.
This is the most important thing about private-room karaoke: you don't have to be a good singer. All you have to do is match the vibe of the room. That's it. It's more collaborative than traditional karaoke, which demands for people to perform. With private room karaoke you're singing together, feeding off of people's energy, laughing when a friend is super into it, being supportive when a friend is a bit shy, screaming together at the loud parts. It recognizes how karaoke is a group activity, and singing with an intimate group of your friends (instead of a whole bar of strangers) reinforces this.
Honestly, the traditional karaoke bar sort of mirrors the individualism of American culture. When I complained to my friend that her town didn't have any private-room karaoke places, she told me she had no problem singing at the old school bars. "If I sing a song everybody hates, oh well," she said. "I don't care."
I love my friend, but this is such an American attitude to have. I know I'm American too, but I've never not thought about what other people think and I'm a little envious of people who can do that. Isn't reading the room important? Feeling the energy of people and then continuing in that direction? If everyone is enjoying a particular song, it would be so arrogant to jump up on stage and then do a slow ballad that kills the energy and puts everyone to sleep.
Honestly, it's the same with private room karaoke too. If you're in a group with some loud-ass singer, wailing like she's Adele, singing over everybody, it's awkward. You can feel the difference in the room. People are tense. People aren't having fun. They're shrinking themselves because this loud person is commandeering so much space in the room and not sharing it. It's rude as fuck.
Even though karaoke was invented in Japan/Philippines, and I don't think private karaoke started until the 90s, I still think of public karaoke as "American." It has an American outlook of, "Look at me, yes I'm doing a 10-minute ballad no one has ever heard of, no I don't give a fuck what you think." The two styles (public and private) being so drastically different, sort of mirror the cultures they come from. Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste, but I prefer the one that exalts the group over the individual.
Anyway - if you haven't tried private room karaoke, I highly recommend it. I unfortunately won't be able to and will be at an old school karaoke bar, having to sing "Paper Planes" right after someone sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Hope I don't kill the vibe.