“I can’t believe it’s not...? Where’s Fabio?”

By Sue Sawyer

Yes, the prevailing men’s hairstyles were sleek ponytails, a slight tan, blousey shirts tucked into Gap-styled pants. Gals too, sporting long hair and ponytails, wearing stylish bouncy ruffles, matching-colored hose and heels. Not one fanny crack, body piercing, belly button sighting, serious tattoo or Gothic wardrobe in the whole room of “20-somethings” blowing off steam on a Friday night.

Bellevue’s Maple Leaf Lounge is one big hook up or social club, standing room only where new friends are instantly made, and old ones reunited. Nobody sits still here. Table-hopping encouraged. It’s instant activity all night long.

The Maple Leaf knows how to treat the crowd, having one of the oldest karaoke shows on the Eastside which now rolls on past ten years. The bar/lounge is a big square room away from the actual dining room, equipped with a dance floor, good sound and complete VocoPro DVD system owned by Starkey Entertainment. Their song book is small-print, two-column pages weighted heavily with hits of the last five years, as well as the “usual”; and every month Starkey adds new releases to the collection. Singers’ personal CDs are welcome too.

On Wednesday and Thursday nights, karaoke begins at 10:00pm, ending at 2:00am, hosted by Jason. Friday and Saturday nights the show starts at 9:30pm lasting until 1:30am, hosted by Anthony. Black lights, lasers and atmosphere toys are included. Unusual music selections prevail, while singers are called up during rotation. There’s a large TV behind the singer, as well as a personal monitor on a small performance stage.

Maple Leaf’s cuisine of China is more gourmet and highly stylized Mandarin and Szechwan dishes that are fresh creations of a master chef, different from what is served at buffets, food stores and most neighborhood Chinese eateries. The food alone is worth the visit. The bar staff has been there “forever” and is up to speed on every new spirit concoction.

Sassy, who was celebrating her 24th birthday, started the rotation with “Crush.” Rene followed with “I Will Survive.” Brock sang, “Say You, Say Me,” Jay had himself noticed with “Run’n Down A Dream.” Emily brought out the dancers with “Any Man Of Mine” and Jennifer followed with “Give Me One Reason.” Debra’s feel good tune “Here I Go Again” was a big hit, while Terrance was serious in his performance of “War Pigs.” Linda took “Criminal” to a higher level.

The star of the evening was Mark. His choice, “On The Dark Side”, was sung with determination and enthusiasm. The lyrics describe his real life plight as a blind man. The crowd went wild. Joshua nailed “Under The Bridge” and Paul amazed the audience staying on pace with “Animals” where the words come up on the screen like machine gun bullets. Porter told the story of birth through “Lightening Crashes” which was just a sample of the fun on the karaoke stage with Anthony, who is quite skilled at his job.

If you want a place that says, “everything now” - Maple Leaf is a must. Smokers have the front porch canopy to keep them dry, and there is plenty of parking. They’re located at 707 148th Avenue N.E., Bellevue (425)-747-8700.