A (Karaoke) Star Is Born!

Friday night Guy and I went to karaoke with a bunch of work buddies and did we have a blast! It had been so long since my last karaoke excursion I had forgotten how much fun it is to get all liquored up and make a fool of myself in public! We sang (and I use the term loosely) "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" and we brought down the house. Well, that might've been the beer talking...either way, what we lacked in talent we more than made up for in boundless enthusiasm.

Karaoke is a great equalizer--few people are very good at it, most of us really suck, but what we all share is the nerve to get up in front of a room full of people and draw a great deal of attention to ourselves and manage to have an absolutely fabulous time doing it. I'm an exhibitionist at heart, I think, because I love being the centre of attention and karaoke is a great way to achieve that. The crowd will clap for you no matter how bad you are as long as you're really trying and put on a good show. Besides, if they don't clap for you, you won't clap for them.

Another reason I keep doing it is karaoke is strangely addictive. I remember how much nerve it took for me to do it for the first time and immediately afterward wanting more than anything to get right back up there and do it again. I've heard the same is true to bungee jumping and skydiving, but I probably won't be doing either of those anytime soon. I guess what these things have in common is the rush--the exhilaration you feel, the release of endorphins in your blood stream--you're taking a risk. Mind you bungee jumping and skydiving have a different type of risk than karaoke, but the risk is there all the same. Emotional pain can be just as damaging as physical pain, and the effects can be even longer lasting.

Having said that, I don't think I'll be taking up any extreme sports. After all, I've never heard of somebody dying in a karaoke accident.