fandomhigh | Karaoke For Fun And Profit #5 [Tuesday, Period 5, 6/10]

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karaoke

Karaoke For Fun And Profit #5 [Tuesday, Period 5, 6/10]

The night club simulation was gone, and in its place was a theater stage. "I thought a change of scenery was called for since we're covering show tunes today," said Mike. "These are basically songs that were part of a musical, and in some cases, have become popular songs in their own right, outside the context of the original musical. The show tune used to be very popular through the late 1940s, so this is a genre that works better with an older karaoke crowd. However, musicals seem to be making a comeback these days, so a good show tune is definitely something to have on your karaoke playlist."

"One of the best known show tunes is a little song from a Broadway musical called ~~South Pacific~~ Tropical Ocean. I thought it was especially appropriate this week," he added with a grin before going ahead and singing his own version.

[A very special thank you to mistressofblack for helping me out with today's workshop!]

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For our performers, once they're ready.

It had taken Savannah awhile to find a fun song that she knew and she liked. Finally she had settled on this one (http://youtube.com/watch?v=9wkeNa_QYKw).

"Great job!" said Mike, applauding. "This is what karaoke is all about, just having fun with it."

Amber chose the same song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweHXTI5nfE&feature=related) she sange the very first class, only because she knew it so well and thought it fit.

Hopefully she wouldn't get in trouble for it.

Mike had no problem. He clapped and cheered as usual.

But Bert was looking a little confused. "Hey, isn't that one of my songs?" he asked. It was best not to ask where he got his drink, which looked suspiciously like scotch.

Amber blinked. "One of your songs? Uh, I'm not sure. I just heard it and thought it was pretty."

"You know how much they own me in royalties? More than what I owe my ex-wife," grumbled Bert. "Let me tell you something..."

And that's as far as he got before Mike shut down the Bert Hanley simulation. "Sorry," he said apologetically. "I was up late finishing the theater simulation and didn't get a chance to give this guy a better personality. It was a really pretty song, by the way."

Amber grinned and waved her hand a bit. "It's fine. I'm just not sure I know who that guy is. The theater though is totally cool, Mr. Cannon. Kind of intimidatin' actually."

"Mr. Hanley is supposed to be a famous ~~washed-up~~ songwriter who also worked at a music camp for teenagers," said Mike. "I wasn't quite sure who he was, either, but he had the credentials. And we'll be back to nightclubs next week. It just didn't seem appropriate to be singing Broadway tunes in an ultra-hip Vegas nightclub."

"No, it didn't," she laughed. "But it's nice to learn the different places to sing certain kinds of music so I think this is great. I would love to be able to sing somethin' from ~~meta for~~ Phantom of the Opera, but no way can I sing remotely good enough to even attempt a try."

"Yeah, that is a tough one," agreed Mike. "Technically, though, if you're just doing it for fun, there is a way to get around it. You just use a tape of someone else singing the difficult parts and just sing along with that."

"That's not considered... cheatin'?"

"It's a gray area," said Mike. "A lot of performers will use a backing tap if they're singing live and don't have the confidence to hit the high notes. You just give a lot more credit to the people who don't need the tape. If you're doing karaoke and you're just doing it to have fun, I wouldn't see a problem with it. If you're doing it at a karaoke competition with a cash prize, that's definitely cheating."

"Okay, I get it," she grinned. "Will people totally know when someone does it? Be kind of cool to be considered awesome."

"It's really tough to tell until they mess up or something happens to their tape," said Mike. "On the flip side of that, they can always sing without a back-up band or back-up singer to show that they really are singing."

"I should practice more," she decided. "I find singin' quite entertainin'. Not sure if I will make a career out of it, but karaoke every now and again would be so great and to actually be good at it, even better."

"Sounds like a plan," said Mike. "Don't forget that there is a bar in town that has karaoke. I've been meaning to do that more often myself. And I don't know for certain yet, but I might be doing this same workshop next term with new topics and new music."

"I haven't forgotten," she replied. "And in fact and a friend and I had once discussed doing a duet but... gatherin' the courage for that seems a little different from a workshop."

Amber grinned. "Oh! That will be nice, Mr. Cannon."

Summer wasn't really into musicals, but she found the perfect song to sing anyway.

Bert's simulation had been shut off by this point, so Mike made sure to clap extra hard to make up for the missing audience.

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Karaoke For Fun And Profit #5 [Tuesday, Period 5, 6/10]

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