What is Karaoke?

Karaoke started in Kobe City, Japan in the 70's, as a form of 'self-entertainment' provided by bars, clubs and restaurants in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music. It wasn’t long before it caught on in the rest of the world. But it was not introduced to the United States until the 90's. Although the joke is that the word 'karaoke' means ‘tone deaf’ it actually means 'empty orchestra.' Karaoke is often misspelled as kareoke or karioke because of phonetic spelling. But anyway you spell it, karaoke is a blast!

In karaoke the participant sings along to to a pre-recorded track or karaoke CD, replacing the original lead singer. The singer can read the lyrics, which are displayed on a video screen along with a changing color to guide the singer. The karaoke track will contain the background music and backup singers.

Come along as I take you through the karaoke journey! We are going to have great fun learning how karaoke works, what equipment is needed, where to find songs, crazy things that happen and many other things.