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For Westerners it is sometimes difficult to understand Asia’s obsession with Karaoke. What’s so exciting about embarrassing yourself in front of your friends or even strangers with your non-existing singing skills?
Fortunately - Karaoke is more than that, it can be a favorite pastime or your dirty little secret.
Once you take your time to get the hang of it - you could have lots of pleasure and a great time enjoying yourself.
But let’s first shed some light on Karaoke and some stereotypes - on what most people believe to understand about it:
Booze, scanty clad Girls and a Microphone
The popular Karaoke we know today derived from a Japanese form of adult entertainment, where half-drunken blokes or business partners sing along with recorded music using a microphone. Usually the voice of the original singer is removed and the lyrics of the song are displayed on a TV or screen. The lyrics change color depending on the position of the song, as a guide for the singer.
Besides plenty of Sake to oil ones vocal cords, Karaoke comes with plenty of girlie chicks, ready to lap-dance on the performer, who don’t mind being groped at or even bringing the whole session to another intimate level. Add overpriced booze and you have a setup which would satisfy most dirty minds.
This image of Karaoke is rooted in almost every Westerners mind and certainly for a reason. Who doesn’t know some cheap Korea or Japanese movies, where all the above happens at the same time. And for sure you can find these kind of Karaoke places anywhere if you go looking for them.
Western Media picked up on that as well, some dubious documentaries painted a shady image, while Hollywood took notice with more or less mentionings closer to reality in movies like ‘Wasabi’, ‘Rush Hour’, ‘Lost in Translation’ or ‘My Best Friends’ Wedding’.
Most people don’t know that the original Japanese inventor of the Karaoke machine simply ‘forgot’ to patent this technology. Today Robert del Rosario, a business-savvy Filipino, holds the patents to the device, now commonly known as the ‘karaoke machine’.
Today, almost everywhere in Asia, Karaoke is very popular with youngsters and adults alike. From Taipei, Manila or Tokyo to Bangkok, Hong Kong to Hanoi or Jakarta - you can find a Karaoke (or KTV) joint in every town with more or less modern equipment, disco lights, public singing rooms or separate booths for more intimate group fun or for the shy and easily embarrassed.
And it’s now catching up with Caucasians as well, with new places mushrooming all over the Western Hemisphere.
What else can it be?
I had my first experience with Karaoke about 7 years back on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. Besides beautiful beaches and the magic ‘Chocolate Hills’ the island is plastered with Karaoke Machines. I’m sure Bohol is there no exception to the rest of the Philippines. This country is simply obsessed with Karaoke and they make you feel it. In a good way.
No wonder that most of the Live Bands you see in Hotels or Restaurants across Asia are mainly from the Philippines. Pinoy people love to enjoy themselves singing and are really talented to cheering up crowds with the right tunes.
Small shops or restaurants here have their own machines and everyone who comes along or dines in such a place is invited to show off some of his talents by singing along the tunes of Air Supply, Janet Basco, Freddie Aguilar, Roselle Nava or the April Boys and plenty of other local and international favorites.
Being skeptic at first, it took quite some convincing by other to drag me to a Karaoke place at first.
So one evening I went with some Greek guy I met there and some new-befriended Locals to one of this restaurants and we sung the night away. Some Tanduay with Coke helps to grease your throat and the more time we spent, the better we got and more fun we had. Although one must admit that most Filipinos are naturally talented singers anyway. Solos were soon followed by Duets and when the morning dawned we were all pumped up with Adrenaline and joy.
It was truly a fun session, an eye opener and I really felt alive. “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” will never sound soooo good again other than sung by yourself. 
Other places, different tastes
When I moved to Singapore a few months later, I couldn’t get away from Karaoke anymore. No more excuses. Although here the experience is a bit different. Karaoke joints are more dark, dubious places - where usually groups of men hang out, although these days even girls don’t stop anymore getting their kicks in public Karaoke venues. Unfortunately, like for most entertainment options in Singapore, you can spend a fortune in just one night for a little bit of innocent pleasure. So I was even happier when I discovered that my cheap ‘Shinco’ home theatre, which could play all kinds of discs you threw at it, could play Karaoke CD’s as well. Plug in a microphone and you are set for your own home entertainment.
You can find cheap Karaoke CD’s with evergreens, classics or latest pop songs in all kinds of languages for just a few bucks almost everywhere. In Singapore the best places to shop for CDs/VCDs/DVDs are in Chinatown or simply pop over just across the causeway to JB (Johor Bahru) in Malaysia.
Oh yeah - when we were visited by my good friend Jo from Germany, of course we earned some strange looks and quite some comments of disbelief, questioning our sanity.
But what would you guess? 
After having tried it himself, I hardly got my hands back on the microphone that evening. The whole episode ended with him buying his own Karaoke machine just before his departure in one of Changi Airport’s Electronic Shops. Talk about another skeptic-turned-believer.
Public and clean or naughty with ‘Extras’
Anyway - if you want to give your very own version of “My Way” or “Hotel California” a try and don’t feel comfortable in shady Karaoke joints with dubious characters or prostitutes - there are plenty of clean, harmless venues around as well. Some are even in the bigger shopping malls in South East Asia.
Here some examples: in Singapore you could try for instance the KTV place in South Bridge Road, in Phuket go to the Festival Shopping Mall or Ocean Shopping Mall in Phuket Town for clean, glassy karaoke boxes without any pressuring of purchasing ’special’ services.
In Bali there is a brand-new, flashy and well-equipped Karaoke Place on the 3rd floor of Kartika Discovery Shopping Mall in Kuta which features even the latest hits from Rihanna and Evanescence to Linkin Park.
They have a friendly bunch of staff, the whole place shines, is reasonably priced and they even make sure that exotic songs which aren’t available at the moment, can be requested and are ready for you next time you pop by. They have different room sizes for 4-12 persons, which are available for just a few Rupiah per hour, you can have drinks and even food in the rooms and the whole karaoke system is easily operated by yourself via a computerized screen and keyboard.
Yep, there are the other spots of adult entertainment as well. Karaoke there is maybe more a side effect than the main attraction. In some places in Bali you can have a separate room for free, if you take 2 girls with you in the room, who offer everything from simple company up to serious sexual services. I’m not sure if the term ‘Karaoke Massage’ derived from these kind of venues or from Massage Parlors, which offer additional naughty moves to willing customers as well.
However, be prepared to pay way higher bills in more seedy or rundown venues, if you luster for this other version of Karaoke. It could even ruin more than your vocal chords; as following the latest statistics, more than 40% of prostitutes and ‘Karaoke Girls’ in Bali have already contracted HIV or even full-blown AIDS. That surely is similar in other girlie bars or adult entertainment venues all over Asia. So I hope you know what you’re doing.
What are your experiences with Karaoke? Do you love it or hate it?
Or do you even have your own Karaoke system at home? Where is your favorite spot to get Karaoke CDs or DVDs?
Do you have any special tips or funny stories to tell? Please share with other readers by making use of the comment form!
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Great article I’m 32 and you’ve got me thinking. I reckon...
I even never went to Lombok, but I’m...
Nice article. Having lived in Japan for 10 years, I definitely have a love/hate relationship with karaoke. I am pretty bad singer so I only go when I am drunk. I wonder what makes Filipinas such good singers?
I’m not so sure either. Maybe they start very early and enjoy the day happily singing? Maybe a true Pinoy can answer that a bit more in detail?
I hate it ! I have got to say that the Philippines produces some of the most amazing bands and singers that I have come accross, though the Vietnamese are catching up fast!
As a Pinoy (Filipino) I’ve always thought our perception of our singing talent is mostly subjective. Turns out, it’s not.
Now to answer Mike’s question. I think Filipinos are good singers mostly because we love festivities. Every town in the Philippines, big or small, has its own “fiesta.” In simple terms it’s one big party that the whole town celebrates. (A concept brought by the Spanish to our islands. It’s a way of honoring the town’s patron saint.)
The way these fiestas are celebrated may differ from town to town. But one thing is constant–the singing contest. We are so may ahead of the “American Idol” by 300 years!
Winners in these contests go on to represent the town in a province-wide contest. There, they hope to be discovered by talent scouts who either get them to become recording artists or hotel singers in other countries.
But even before aspiring singers join these town fiesta singing contests, most Filipinos are already forced to be good at either dancing or singing since we are fond of holding these huge family reunions where aunts, uncles, grandpas, grandmas and cousins get together, usually during Christmas.
In these family reunions, the main attraction would be–you guessed it–the talent contest. You are a total loser if you have no talent to show for.
So you see, at a very young age we are forced to become performers or risk being ostracized
By the way, Chris, there’s an urban legend that a Filipino actually invented the karaoke machine. Having no one to fund his invention in the Philippines, the legend says he sold his blueprint to a Japanese manufacturer
they love it ….its like their baseball.
Hey Gerry - many thanks for the interesting insight into your culture. And yes, your perception of the Filipino singing talent is anything but subjective!
i can vouch for the clean karaoke joint at discovery mall in kuta, been there many times with my german buddy and i highly recommend it (the karaoke place, not the german buddy)
Ummm… I was on maui for 13 years, and I had two jobs, one as a youth minister, one as a systems technician. Well I was out celebrating a contract the company I worked for one night, and had a little too much Sake. I ended up singing “Eye of the Tiger” in front of some of my kids parents. Good thing they had a sense of humor… they turned around and dedicated “Dancing Queen” to me… It was a fun night all around.
Your post made me read further about who really invented the Karaoke. I really believed that it was a Filipino who invented it. I was disappointed to find out otherwise. A Filipino just holds the patent.
Cheers!
cathy
Hi, Chris!
Nice read for me, indeed. I didn’t know anything about the history of Karaoke - only here in this site.
I used to sing in Karaoke as well. But didn’t go to shady places where your singing prowess can be humiliated in public. We usually visit Encore in SM City North-EDSA where you can avail a private room where you and company can sing to your heart’s content.
A friend who once worked in Korea once told me that Koreans loved Karaoke as well. And I can’t believe it when I was told Freddie Aguilar’s “Anak” song is very popular in that country that Koreans sing it in Tagalog lyrics even if they didn’t understand every words of it.
Now, that’s the pleasure of being indulged to Karaoke…
i think you should get that “magic sing” from the philippines. its basically a ‘karaoke machine right within your fingertips’! =)
her bali dreams - what is that ‘magic sing’ gadget exactly? Do you have some more information about it? Sounds interesting!
What a laughable statistic about 40% of girls having hiv/aids. In reality it’s about 0.7 %. Educate yourself.
please! - I think we both have to educate ourselves a bit more on that subject. I just checked again the available statistics I could get my hands on for Bali. They range from 3% (for 2001) to 10% (for 2007) to 30% (June 2008). So it’s less than 40% but definitely more than 0.7%.
The highest rates of infection among prostitutes are currently to be found in Kenya and Zimbabawe (more than 80%); Cote dÂ’’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Malawi (more than 60 percent); Benin, Mali, and Tanzania (more than 40 percent). Bali is not there yet.