May 2008

Rocky & Kristine's Karaoke Corner

By Rocky & Kristine Fields

Hello and welcome, as always, to another fabulous edition of the Karaoke Corner.

This month we wanted to update you on some of the feedback we’ve received regarding the Guitar Hero with karaoke idea. Last month we brought up a new trend and asked for your input. If you didn’t see last months article, basically the idea is how to, or if to implement Guitar Hero into karaoke shows at bars and clubs.

I’ve spoken to many people since last months Karaoke Corner about adding the Guitar Hero game into a karaoke venue. As expected, we’ve gotten mixed revues. I have also read a lot of articles, emails, online reviews, and wanted to extend a special thanks to Sue Sawyer for forwarding some great info via email and on the Web, along with their local newspapers’ information on the subject. Sue has contacted folks in her neck of the woods and they’ve unanimously said they don’t feel that they should have Guitar Hero during karaoke nights.

On the other hand, she spoke directly with the “dinosaur of karaoke shows” in Scottsdale, AZ, Alan Malarkey, who writes, “Within the past several weeks he installed “Guitar Hero” in Chandler’s, one of the bars his company services as “Guitar Star’s Open Mic.” The attendance at the guitar show is attracting patrons in their 20’s and 30’s so far. He says it’s too soon to see how the bar tabs are affected by the new, all night venue. He personally feels it’s fun for an hour or so, once in a while, on “quiet nights” where there is karaoke. It may be a good diversion on popular weeknights where bars are using heavy metal rock bands over weekends that tend to draw in younger folks. Anyway, the jury is still out and we will have more attendance info in a few more weeks.”

In fact, the Karaoke Squad had planned on checking out a venue to write up this month around the Guitar Hero/karaoke idea, but we’ve had no luck finding something local enough to make the trek! We’ve heard it’s being done in the Bellingham area, but I tried to contact the host and got no response whatsoever. Disappointing! But we are still planning on finding the ever-elusive Guitar Hero show in Washington and giving it a go. Please let us know if you or someone you know of is hosting karaoke alongside Guitar Hero. From all of the research that we’ve done, we do know that yes, it’s very popular in parts of California.

Some suggest combining Guitar Hero with the Karaoke Revolution game, while others seem to think that you could somehow match karaoke CD+Gs to the songs that come along with Guitar Hero so that you could see the words. I also found out that the idea is catching on quickly with the manufacturers of the games and they’re trying to develop one game that incorporates both the Guitar Hero aspect with karaoke so that you will have exactly what we think it could be. At this point, from what we’ve uncovered, it would indeed be difficult to play both together and have them work side by side without being a hassle. The words don’t appear on the screen with Guitar Hero so you’d have to incorporate the two systems with each other and do it skillfully for it to work.

Upon further investigation, I did run across another game through the Nintendo Wii, called Boogie. This game incorporates singing and dancing (sort of) by using the Wii remote and the nunchuck that goes along with it. Some people we’ve spoken to about such games as Boogie, and Karaoke Revolution, tell us that these games are fun but even if you’re an excellent singer, you won’t necessarily win the game, or even do well at it. Apparently you can hum through an entire song and get excellent ratings since it only judges you on the tone or pitch and not on fluctuations, vibrato or style. Hmm... interesting.

If you go onto YouTube and search around, you can find many people demonstrating their versions of the different singing and guitar games and see what you think. We’re finding it very controversial and worthy once again of the Karaoke Corner spot, although next month, with any luck, we’ll be bringing you a venue that has made Guitar Hero a part of their karaoke venue and let you know how it’s going, exactly.

As a note, the Karaoke Squad is itching to get to a venue worthy of a great write up, so please feel free to send suggestions and let us know where your favorite karaoke spot is.

With the crazy weather last month, we also noticed some wild behavior from people in general. It’s funny, but I do believe that the weather, changing seasons, daylight savings, and things of this nature do affect people’s behaviors in a huge and noticeable way. Sometimes it’s for the best, sometimes for the worse. We wanted to remind you singers, and also you who are hosts, to remember that karaoke, at least where we come from, is like a great big family. Treat each other with respect and support all karaoke shows, hosts and singers. If you don’t have something good to say about a host or a singer, don’t bother saying anything at all? Play by the rules as if they were your siblings and everyone will get along.

Just a little bit of friendly advice. That’s it for this month’s Karaoke Corner. Remember, you can always reach us with your comments, suggestions, questions or even complaints at rocknkris@yahoo.com or (425) 359-9450 or on our Myspace page myspace.com/rocknkris. Thank you for all of your support, we appreciate that you take the time to read the Karaoke & Entertainment Guide each month.