Belt out your favourite song at karaoke.

“I asked her to pick my first song and she chose “Hungry Heart.” I was golden! Except I wasn’t. Before I went up she told me how much she loved this song. I told her I loved it too, but I’d never sang it in karaoke. I…I don’t know what happened. My voice has never failed me like that before. [...] All I know is halfway through the song she was politely avoiding eye contact with me and I was praying to God for this damn thing to be over. Those three and a half minutes felt like fifteen.”

“I have a confession to make: I love karaoke. Yes, I’m introverted. Yes, I hate being the centre of attention. Yes, I get extremely self conscious when speaking and singing in front of others. But despite all this, karaoke is something I really enjoy (disclaimer, I’ve never done karaoke in a bar, I prefer the ‘karaoke boxes’ you can rent for a couple of hours). My first karaoke experience took place when I was 16. I was attending an appreciation dinner for the volunteers of a local convention. We enjoyed a delicious Korean BBQ meal at a little ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant. Once we were finished, we headed upstairs to the karaoke room. Although I knew a few people, the majority were strangers. Despite this, I still felt comfortable enough to sing “Phantom of the Opera” along to the prerecorded track.”

“The music begins. Timidly, I begin…..”Sweet dreams are made of this.” My amplified voice doesn’t even sound like me…. but, not too bad. I’m in tune! [...] The last time I sang to a crowd was after I moved to Portland, Oregon. Urged on by the people I was with, I decided to try one tune, even though I was a decade or two older than the crowd and, frankly, feeling my age. I chose “Bohemiam Rhapsody.” It’s a tune with special meaning to me, and I figured, why not? [...] By “open your eyes” everyone in the bar was singing!”