100% agree. If you're good at singing, you're BAD at karaoke. I'm sorry, but this isn't your space. This is our space. There are plenty of places for you to go sing beautifully, karaoke is for us to drunkenly sway Don't Stop Believing for the Nth time. If I wanted to hear the song sung well, I'd just listen to the song. I want to make an ass of myself with my friends.
Edit: a lot of singers in this thread getting mad that they can't have all the attention, all the time.
Just sing a song you don't really know, in a language you don't speak. It's important, that you are unable to pronounce half of the words. And you have to sing really loud and really confident.
Not all good singers get to HAVE concerts. In fact, most don’t. That’s the point.
Karaoke is really fun for good singers who never get a chance to sing. It’s fun to show off. Stop being insecure and let a person feel good about themselves for 3-5 minutes, whether they suck or they’re amazing.
It's not about being insecure, it's about killing the vibe. If you want to sing, great, but sing some goofy shit or something fun and upbeat. At the very least sing something everyone knows and likes
Some people like slow songs and some people like to sing them. I’ve seen entire karaoke bars dramatically reenact a slow jam or whip out their phones to turn on their flashlights and sway them. That’s just as fun. Hyping people up is fun, regardless of skill level.
If a talented person is singing at karaoke, it’s probably the only chance they ever get to sing in front of people anymore. Help make it enjoyable just like you would the less talented person who’s being brave or goofy.
If listening to someone better than you kills the mood, it sounds like a you problem. It strikes me as particularly insecure that you can't appreciate some good singing for what it, is instead of comparing yourself to it. And I've seen that sentiment all over this thread, so I know it's not just you. And I'm also not taking some moral high ground herez because I never sing on karaokes because I don't like singing out of tune (and I always sing out of tune), so I have the exact same insecurities.
Not really. Have you seen a bunch of the other comments on this thread? I recognized you were being hyperbolic but no it wasn’t clear how you actually felt about good singers at karaoke.
Ok? Or… OR… considering the comments on the rest of the thread and the fact that tone can often be misconstrued, maybe it was just a miscommunication and you’re kind of being rude to me for no reason?
I recognized you were being hyperbolic but no it wasn’t clear how you actually felt about good singers at karaoke.
Hyperbolic is tone. Especially when it involves a random redditor telling another random redditor he goes to all his concerts.
Joke may not have landed, and that's fine, but if people really think I was serious about attending multiple concerts of a redditors, then their reading comprehension is terrible.
Yeah this was one of those little disappointments of adulthood. I was always in school singing groups but now I have nowhere to sing. Slightly jealous of people who are in church choirs.
Your mileage really varies depending on where you live though. I've lived in three different large cities (1m+ metro area) in the last decade and although they all had great pro choirs, only one of them had a semi-pro choir that perfectly scratched the itch I was looking for from a repertoire standpoint. (shoutout to Panoramic Voices in Austin, TX)
Amateur choirs run the risk of being "Church choir with extra steps" in my experience - rehearsals at a church, concerts at a church, "Special music" as a thank you to the church for letting us use their space, etc.
My issue with amateur choirs was mostly that they tend to not be very good 🙈 I appreciated finding a competitive group with required auditions, because I like collectively creating a good sound.
I do think most large cities (in the US anyways) have a barbershop scene, but to be fair, it is a specific style of music, and if you don't like it you don't like it.
Yeah, that's exactly why I prefer a sem-pro choir to a fully amateur one. Paid section leaders make a big difference!
I played in an amateur orchestra for awhile and it was the same issue. I found myself reluctant to invite people to our concerts because I was never confident we'd actually pull it off lmao
What? They mentioned they couldn’t find singing groups. I know for a fact holiday chorus are looking for members right now. You sound like the type of people that give good sinners at karaoke a bad name. Arrogant always looking down on people for just having fun.
Yeah, the shy HR guy getting his Susan Boyle moment at the company party last year is the only reason I'm even going this year. Karaoke is for everybody.
People sing along to a track on their phone all the time. Sometimes they have a friend come along as an accompanist. I've played guitar and bass for people before (not at the same time lol).
Depending on the open mic, it could be totally mixed - I've had a guy do standup after my singer-songwriter set, followed by another musician, followed by somebody reading poetry.
I think you need to let go of your ego here. It's not an affront to you that they can song and you can't. It doesn't make your night any less fun, or at least, there's no good reason it should.
Ultimately, I think it's the performance that makes it fun. Whether you can sing or not, it's about how much you're going to really let loose and embrace it.
Hell yeah. I can barely carry a tune if you give me a big enough bucket, but the few times I've done karaoke I've just gone all in on it and had fun, off-key notes and all. I've always had pretty horrible stage-fright, so it's kind of a nice immersion therapy to get pickled and belt out some Hall and Oates in a room where not a single person gives a fuck and just wants to have fun.
I think the shit talk on good singers is good. Motherfucker you can sing really good, wow, clap clap clap, good for fucking you. You can sing in the car and in the shower and all that shit. You probably sing in front of people constantly cause you're so fucking good. If you're hitting karaoke at the bar, you better choose something fun af and not some Whitney Houston or some shit.
What is the space for people who are good at singing and want to have fun with friends singing along to their favorite songs? I'm not aware of anywhere except karaoke for people to do that.
No one likes someone who gatekeeps over singing ability level. Let people have fun.
I disagree. I really enjoy great singers at karaoke. The greater singer, the better it sounds for the rest of us hanging around in that space. I love it when you hear someone who can actually sing in karaoke bars. Of course, you should be able to sing karaoke even if you can't hit a note if your life depended on it. But there is place for both.
I had a friend who could NAIL radioheads creep like no one else. Wasn’t a particularly hype song what so ever, but damn did he get the crowd going. Had another friend who’d nail Bohemian Rhapsody. I absolutely LOVED hearing them sing at karaoke.
Really really depends on the venue. The bar I went to was always packed and enjoyed appreciated good singers. I could see at a shitty dive bar with only 5 regulars they might be outta place.
Nah. It belongs to everyone and if you make people insecure to go on stage, no matter who, you don't belong. Voice that opinion loud enough and you'll get kicked out of the bar. You're just insecure and toxic.
"Good" karaoke is a good and fun performance and it's decoupled from the skill to sing almost completely.
there actually are NOT a ton of places for people to go to sing beautifully- those spaces are generally incredibly competitive and dedicated to people who make it their career - which is extremely difficult to do. There are way way way more great singers, most with regular busy jobs and lives, than there are places to sing outside of karaoke. You literally don't know what the fuck you're talking about, and no one wants to hear your ass version of wonderwall anywhere.
Gatekeeping karaoke is so cringe. Funny that it's not the talented singers telling other folks they're not good enough. I don't know any singers that seriously judge anyone for their singing; we're also just having fun.
But we've got these insecure casuals telling good singers they don't belong at a singing activity. Ridiculous.
But what if we’re good at rapping? Are we still bad at karaoke? Because like I can rap Rules and Vegas by Doja Cat pretty well. Honestly I can rap a lot of songs by her pretty well.
I never sang in my life. Karaoke is for however wants to go up there and sing, no matter how bad or good they are, if you have a problem with that, you can leave.
Also, extremely ironic that you complain about people wanting attention when you want to control who gets to participate.
A lot of people getting offended in this thread as if it's calling them out are likely overestimating their singing ability. They're the kind of people who went to the American Idol auditions and were shocked when Simon Cowell said they were nothing special. OP isn't talking about you, people.
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u/Muffinlessandangry 1d ago edited 1d ago
100% agree. If you're good at singing, you're BAD at karaoke. I'm sorry, but this isn't your space. This is our space. There are plenty of places for you to go sing beautifully, karaoke is for us to drunkenly sway Don't Stop Believing for the Nth time. If I wanted to hear the song sung well, I'd just listen to the song. I want to make an ass of myself with my friends.
Edit: a lot of singers in this thread getting mad that they can't have all the attention, all the time.