Summer’s gonna get krazy at One Eyed Jack’s Roadhouse

With the warmer weather on the way, why not turn up the heat a couple of notches? The gang at One Eyed Jack’s Roadhouse in Lynnwood have decided to do just that, by bringing you their 3rd annual “Krazyoke” contest on Thursday nights, starting June 8.

“We all know that spring and summer bring the big county fair karaoke contests,” says owner Tom McAlees; “but a lot of people just can’t compete - whether it’s transportation issues, lack of talent, or the fear of big crowds. Our contest levels the playing field for everyone, good or bad.”

This year’s Krazyoke competition features almost $700 in cash and prizes throughout its eight-week run, and the finals are on August 3. If you watched the past two competitions, come on back because they’ve added a few new elements to make the contest even more entertaining.

In previous years, contestants chose a song, the karaoke host would add four songs into the mix, then the contestants drew a song to sing from the lot (but could not sing their chosen song). This year, One Eyed Jack’s Roadhouse has added a computerized karaoke system; now the computer will randomly pick songs “kamikaze-style” for the contestants. “We also noticed that a lot of contestants last year picked really long songs for the contest,” adds Tom; “so this year, we’re limiting each act to three minutes.” And while on the subject of time, the large number of contestants in previous years ran the contest so late into the night, there wasn’t much time for karaoke after the show. To alleviate this problem, each weekly contest will be limited to six contestants. To determine who will be in the contest, sign-ups will start at 9:30 p.m. (along with karaoke warm-ups), and end at 10:45pm At around 10:50pm, all who signed up for the contest will draw cards. Anyone drawing a card numbered 1 through 6 will be in the contest; anyone with a higher number will have to try again another week. The contest will start at 11:00pm each week.

The other change for this year is that instead of drawing a name at the end of the contest to see who goes to the finals, there will be a panel of three judges who will score contestants on four aspects of their performance: stage presence (25%; did the contestant try to capture the audience?), overall ability (25%; did they read, or try to sing the song?), fun factor (25%; did the contestant try to have fun with the song?), and audience response (25%). The top overall score each week will receive a $20 gift certificate, and move on to the finals.

In the finals, fourth-place up to eighth-place will receive a $10 gift certificate and a T-shirt. Third place will receive a $25 gift certificate, a One Eyed Jack’s T-shirt, and $75. Second place gets a $25 gift certificate, a One Eyed Jack’s T-shirt, and $100. And the grand prize is $250 and a One Eyed Jack’s T-shirt.

The previous Krazyoke contests were a lot of fun when contestants drew songs that just didn’t fit them at all, like the 6' 4" cowboy singing a Madonna song, or Auntie Pumpkin singing a song by Tool. It always makes for a pile of fun, for both the contestants and the audience. Of course, how could you not have fun at One Eyed Jack’s with their fun-loving, prank-pulling staff?

They’ve also updated their fare of “bar grub” by adding French fries and onion rings, improving their chicken sandwiches, and bringing back their popular meatball sandwich. As always, their roadhouse chili is the best around, and the Jack’s bar burgers are becoming legendary.

You’ve got to check out One Eyed Jack’s, if you havent already. They’ve got a variety of fun and different promotions going on seven nights a week (see their ad), and a wide selection of both draft and bottled beer, plus a fully stocked bar - just like you’d expect a roadhouse to have. They’ve also got plenty of TVs for sports and karaoke, along with pool tables, dart boards, and more. Stop by and see for yourself at 14019 Highway 99 In Lynnwood; (425)743-5570.