Karaoke Wednesday

I love Hosting Karaoke when I have a bunch of friends in because it makes the shift that much more fun and when I haven't seen people in a while and didn't know if they sang or not, it makes for an interesting and exciting night!

Jamie and Spark were the first to arrive, ready to sing, and started the night going with me.  There was Pool League so we had a couple additional people that I hadn't seen before but gave us some time between singing.  After opening the night and testing the sound and microphones, Jamie was up to sing; she sang 'Creep' by Radiohead with Spark following her singing 'Otherside' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I always forget about that song and I was glad that Spark sang it, not only because he did a great job, but because I knew it was going to be a crazy and fun night with plenty of sing-alongs.  The next round of songs we all slowed it down, while I sang 'Foolish Games' and really felt the lyrics, Jamie did Adele's version of 'To Make You Feel My Love' and Spark did 'House of the Rising Sun.'  Marty showed up and decided to do a little rock & roll singing 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' and trying something new for his first time singing that night.  Next up it was a round of new songs for everyone, since Marty had kicked off the night with his new song, I decided on Phil Collin's version of 'Against All Odds' adding a few Mariah Carey notes and just having fun with the song.  Jamie's new song was 'Black Velvet' by Allanah Myles and she brought some soul to her performance while Spark had everyone singing along with him while he sang 'Everything I Do, I Do It For You' made famous by Bryan Adams.  Oh, how we all love that song!  And Marty sang another new song doing 'Wicked Game' which I loved!

Of course, with friends in for Karaoke, that only means shots, so there were Raspberry Kamikaze's, Gummy Bears, and Whiskey.  There were a couple more arrivals about half-way through the night, bringing in Sean whose first song was Edwin McCain's 'I'll Be.'  Still celebrating his Birthday, Sean McCracken was also a late-arrival but an awesome surprise when he sang 'Breakeven' by The Script and impressed us all with his fantastic voice!  There were a few Duets to be done, so Jamie and I did our song, 'Take Me Or Leave Me' from Rent, while she joined Sean for 'Lucky' and I closed out the night doing a duet with McCracken.  We did Lady Antebellum's 'Need You Now.'  Back to the solo singers, Jamie did 'Gravity' just beautifully while Spark sang 'Walking In Memphis' and showed us his range and variety in songs, which always makes me a happy Karaoke Host!  Marty made us all believe 'The Reason' was you, singing Hoobastank's hit, while McCracken sang some James Taylor, changing up his style as well.  Sean brought a little country to the bar doing Tim McGraw's version of 'When The Stars Go Blue' while I brought the alternative angry vibe back with Nirvana's 'Heart-Shaped Box.'

It's always great when you can get your friends together to do something fun and creative like singing Karaoke.  It's awesome to surprise everyone with your choice and variety in songs and being able to try something new, whether you kill it or mess up, can laugh at yourself because we all appreciate the effort and courage to get up there and sing your heart out!  Till next week...