Center Stage

She takes the microphone and taps it with her finger to make sure it's on. She pushes her hair behind her shoulder, takes a deep breath and nods to the man at the soundboard. She looks down at her shoes, grits her teeth and when the words pop up onto the screen, she opens her mouth and starts to sing the first few words of "Like a Virgin." She's hesitant at first, but soon the cheers and whistles start. Her bravery grows. Someone in the crowd lets loose with a catcall, and she rewards them with a little shimmy. The audience goes wild. She starts a little strut, a little dancing comes over her, and soon, she's channeling Madonna. Before long, she isn't just singing -- she's doing karaoke.\nThe premise of karaoke is a simple one: lyrics on a screen or on paper, instrumental music and a microphone. The concrete objects are pretty simple, but the mindset behind it is infinitely more complicated. The psychology behind karaoke is a prevalent one in American society. Karaoke has been featured prominently in movies as diverse as "Lost in Translation," "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Duets." This primal urge to perform is the same one that has led to the popularity of shows like "American Idol." Deep inside, we all believe that we can truly sing, and more importantly, that we are stars.\nAccording to the karaoke Web site www.karaokescene.com, "Karaoke is a Japanese abbreviated compound word: 'kara' comes from 'karappo' meaning empty, and 'oke' is the abbreviation of 'okesutura,' or orchestra." Music without words intended as back-up for amateur singers became known as karaoke. Legend has it, the site says, that a snack bar in Kobe, Japan employed a guitarist to entertain its guests. When the guitarist couldn't come in, the owner began using tapes of the performances. Guests began singing to the tapes and karaoke was born.\nIU students and Bloomington residents indulge in karaoke and inflict their vocal talents on friends and fellow karaoke enthusiasts at a variety of Bloomington venues.\nJunior Maya Kobray is an unparalleled karaoke enthusiast. She doesn't make it to Bear's every Thursday night at 9 p.m., but many nights she can be found onstage, mic in hand. \n"Sometimes on Thursdays my friends and I are at Axis for 15-cent drafts, but we do try to make karaoke a tradition," Kobray said.\nWhile one particular night's rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes off You" was particularly successful, her favorite memory is of singing "Brown Eyed Girl" with a group to a brown-eyed friend on her birthday.\n"Karaoke is just a chance to cut loose and be the center of attention. You're the star of the bar," Kobray said. "The first time I did it by myself, I was really shy. But it took about 30 seconds and boys started whistling, and I just cut loose."\nThe best part about karaoke, Kobray said, is that the atmosphere is so warm and friendly. \n"Nobody would ever even think of booing, it's great. Karaoke is all about support," Kobray said.\nPicking the right song is important. A bad selection can doom the performance. Senior Joe Russell is a karaoke fan, but more than that, he knows how to pick the perfect karaoke song. \n"It's one of two things: If you're a good singer, you pick a good song that you sing well and that you're familiar with. If you're not a good singer, you pick the most ridiculous thing you can possibly sing, 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' or something. You have to do something nobody expects," Russell said. \nBut even Russell acknowledges that the truly talented singers are few and far between. Most people, he says, fall somewhere in the middle.\n"There are people in between, though, that think they're good. They're either average or they're really bad and don't know it. Those are the funniest because they knock it out. They really try to sell it."\nOf the local karaoke venues, Domo has one of the largest. The business, located in a house-style building on Third Street, is a clean, demure sushi restaurant upstairs. The basement, however, can only be described as tricked-out. There's a bar, tables and three flat-screen televisions for lyric projections. Domo doesn't charge for the use of the facilities, but they do ask that groups make reservations. \nBut not every karaoke enthusiast likes performing in large crowds. The four-month-old Sushi Bar, at 2522 E. 10th St., turns into a karaoke bar once the sun goes down and caters to those who like a little more privacy. The restaurant portion of the bar closes at 10 p.m. on weeknights, but once the diners are gone, the singers come out. The restaurant has several small, enclosed rooms that can be rented out for $15 an hour. Each room holds 8 to 10 people, and no reservations are necessary. \n"We get a pretty diverse crowd here," said Yuli Wajaya, an IU alumna and server at Sushi Bar. "The owner's Korean, so we have Korean and Japanese songs as well as American music. For some reason, the song 'Uptown Girl' is really popular."\nWajaya, who is from Indonesia, attributes the popularity of karaoke in Asian restaurants to the availability of karaoke venues in Asia.\n"In Asia, in every city there are, like, 10 karaoke bars," Wajaya said. "Asians' idea of having fun is a little different."\nBut not all karaoke is done in bars. Home karaoke machines can be purchased from most large retail stores for as little as $40. Most come equipped with microphones and many even include small screens for the lyrics. Additional CDs of karaoke music can be purchased in record stores.\nJunior Melissa Misener's parents gave her a karaoke machine for her 21st birthday. Misener and her friends used it the first three weekends she owned it. She also volunteered it for the IU Dance Marathon karaoke contest. Misener's favorite song to karaoke is "Great Balls of Fire."\n"It's probably paid for itself in the fun we've had with it," she said, laughing from the memories.\nMisener used the karaoke machine for Dad's Weekend at her sorority, Alpha Phi Omega with her friend, junior Lizzie O'Bryan.\n"We did 'Summer Lovin'' from 'Grease' and we got the dads to do 'YMCA.' And then everyone did 'We Are Family' together. I think we were pretty good," O'Bryan said.\nWhile karaoke is often associated with drunken carousing and off-key warbling, many karaoke enthusiasts are quick to point out that alcohol isn't a necessity for a good karaoke session. O'Bryan purchased a "Kidz Bop" karaoke CD for Misener's machine when her two young cousins visited her.\n"That's one of the nice things about karaoke: it's fun for everyone, no matter their age," she said.