“You must always keep in mind that you are performing for other people. It’s ok to take pride in your performance, but an obvious and useful metaphor here is sex: you are having fun by making it possible for someone else to have fun, and if you’re not, you might as well be doing it by yourself.”— Emily Gould on karaoke.
This article is chock full of gold, especially in the comments section. I would add:
- Gender switching a song is always novel, meaning I would agree with the author’s Britney prohibition only as it pertains to girls. Also, girls tend to pull off Journey and Bon Jovi much better than guys.
- Backup singing is extremely underrated (see “I Want It That Way” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart”).
- If the metaphor for successful karaoke is sex, then singing a song from a musical is like jacking off in front of the audience.
- When in doubt, choose a song from 1994.
- “Everyone should know the words” is the Golden Rule of karaoke (encompassing “only rap if you really know it” and “Don’t so songs no one has ever heard”), because you never know what nonsense lyrics will end up scrolling up during your jam:
