Advice Part 9- Karaoke!

(This post is dedicated to my friend Jatinder)

Aah, the karaoke bar....

I have spent many a pleasant (and not so pleasant) night in such establishments.

With the weekend almost upon us, I thought this was a suitable opportunity to provide some advice on surviving "the karaoke experience" to all the young players out there. Just in case you're tempted to go.....

Karaoke is TOTALLY UNIQUE. If you have never walked down the stairs of Karaoke World, and heard the garbled strains of tuneless warbling emanating from the (supposedly) soundproof rooms, you don't know what you're missing.

(Interesting fact- I don't think it is entirely co-incidental that a Molotov cocktail was once thrown into said venue.....Someone's singing must have been REALLY bad that night)

Here are a few pointers for surviving karaoke:

• NEVER, EVER go to the karaoke bar without having a drink first. Ideally, make sure you have drunk enough that the prospect of making a monumental fool of yourself is no longer a major concern.
• Accept the fact that the worst songs generally provide the best karaoke fodder. Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a prayer" is a case in point.

• Have some signature karaoke tunes which you can belt out reasonably tunefully. Preferably something easy.
• Unless you are MC Hammer (or similar), DO NOT try to rap. Particularly if you have followed Point 1.
• If you are trying to divert attention from your singing, dancing is a good tactic. So, too, is making fun of the bizarre 1980s style music videos.

With these tips in mind, you should survive your karaoke experience.

And maybe even enjoy it.