I went up to the Lucky Voice Karaoke Bar in Islington with a group of singers, some of whom would describe themselves as being able to sing and some who said they can’t sing very well and they didn’t want to sing on their own in front of the others. No matter, i said, you can choose a song and then ask one of the others to sing it with you, that way you’ll get the experience without being in the spotlight. So, i started them off by choosing a song they could all sing together and as i predicted it only took a few goes of singing a song in a smaller group before they were all singing on their own, even the people said they wouldn’t dream of it!
That’s what i love about karaoke… it’s so much fun and people improve their confidence in their singing in a matter of hours! (with a few drinks and a wig or party hat sat on their head!)
I think karaoke isn’t about trying to sound like the singers on the original record, how are you going to sound like Ray Charles if you’re a young white female singer? Or Lily Allen, if you happen to be an American middle aged male singer? It’s probably not going to happen. But that’s a good thing. You want to sound like you. The best you can be.
Karaoke gives people the opportunity to find their voice, discover their unique stage personality and experience the pleasure of ‘being yourself’ in the context of self expression through singing. Once people find themselves in this way, it will translate into other areas of their lives and i believe that singing is THE best way to build confidence.
Lucky Voice are on the same page with me i think, watch this and enjoy!
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