Karaoke, here today & tomorrow too

Karaoke, Japanese for "empty orchestra," is a form of
entertainment in which amateur singers sing along with
recorded music. The industry began in Japan in the 1970s
when a singer provided a recording of his performance so
fans could sing along. At first it was considered a fad
lacking the atmosphere of a real performance. However, it
spread to East Asia in the 1980s and has since spread to
much of the rest of the world.

In the U.S. karaoke machines have evolved from tapes, to
laser discs with full video CDs with graphics. These CDs
includes karaoke songs with lyrics and usually background
images displayed with the lyrics. They can be played on
karaoke machines, many computers, and an increasing amount
of home DVD players. Many karaoke machines have technology
that electronically changes the pitch of music to fit the
singer's vocal range.

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There has been a whole industry developed to cater to the
karaoke machine such as custom microphones and cases for
the individual owner. These things also make wonderful
Christmas gifts and many parents get the less expensive
versions for their children. Now just about any party or
event that you go to, more than likely there will be a
karaoke machine there and a line of people waiting for
their turn to get up and show others what their made of.

Just about every bar or club you go into today has a
karaoke machine and brings customers in with "Karaoke
Night" one or two nights a week while other places cater to
karaoke every night with big buck machines with all the
bells and whistles. Karaoke is so popular in these
establishments that people will wait up to two hours to get
their turn at the microphone. Karaoke has brought some
businesses out of the red and way into the black after
introducing they have a karaoke machine and there is no
such thing as a "slow night" anymore.

Everyone has a little bit of "ham" inside themselves and a
karaoke machine is not for the timid or shy. It allows a
person to do one of the things that many people dream of,
to perform onstage in front of an audience and being the
center of attention. Karaoke may even be a valuable
learning tool for children with speech impediments by
allowing them to hear and sound out certain voice
characteristics. Karaoke is here to stay, this fad didn't
burn itself out, but instead it has grown and developed
itself into being a part of our culture today. Who knew?

Frank Mensley operates the website SKaraoke
which a site dedicated to researching Karaoke related
topics and contains all the very latest Karaoke news and
views. For more details please visit
http://www.skaraoke.com

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