Das Karaoke
Karaokied in Berlin last night. Basically, I just showed up at Knaack for something to do (and to scout it out for The Hold Steady concert next Saturday). To give you a sense of what I was up against, check out this YouTube video. I guess Knaack has this karaoke show set up at least a few times a week in their upstairs room, called "Dizzy Lounge." If you follow the link, you'll find the songlist, amidst a bunch of German.
Actually, I think pretty much everyone who sang was way better than the girls in that video. There were a few people who were pretty amazing, especially given that they were all German. When I first arrived, they were actually finishing up some sort of contest that they hold there occasionally. The people in the contest all hung around afterward and kept singing, so that may have pushed the skill level up a bit.
The first song I sang was "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. I got at least one beer bottle raised as a gesture of approval, and I think it generally went over pretty well. I think I also had a sort of fish-out-of-water novelty factor going for me. Maybe like an hour or so later, I sang "Tonight, Tonight" by The Smashing Pumpkins. This was slightly problematic, as they had what I will generously refer to as "The German Version" of the song on karaoke. I think this ended up being both good and bad. It was bad because a) the lyrics were wiping about one measure too slow, and b) the lyrics were very obviously transcribed by a German person, as they were about 30 degrees off from the real lyrics. Anyway, I think this sort of worked out okay, because after having been very obviously tripped up by the mistakes in the first half of the song, I went off-book for the second half and managed to pull it out, which the elite group of German karaoke singers congregated near the stage especially appreciated. By German karaoke standards, it's way more acceptable to scratch a bit on the lyrics anyway, so the first half was still probably above par.
Some songs that the Germans sang: Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody, Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box, Falco - Jeanny, Metallica - Enter Sandman, Metallica - Nothing Else Matters (same Metallica guy), Backstreet Boys - Incomplete (same Metallica guy), Luniz - I Got 5 On It, Alanis Morissette - Bitch, Evanescence (feat. Paul McCoy) - Bring Me to Life (We've really got to work this one into our repertoire. Also, it's worth noting that some German guy spontaneously jumped up on stage and did a really good Paul McCoy, complete with lean-back-and-shout movements reminiscent of the video), ABBA - Thank You For The Music, Limp Bizkit - Take a Look Around, Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Suzanne Vega - Luka, The Eagles - Hotel California, Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, No Doubt - Don't Speak, Kiki Dee & Elton John - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (I had a little run-in with the girl from the duo that sang this song, as she needed a pen and couldn't understand what I was saying when I told here that there was a pen on the table around the corner), Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue (this was done by the KJ), Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues (this was done by a dude with a Johnny Cash t-shirt), Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing (KJ), Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime, Cranberries - Zombie, Cat Stevens - Father And Son.
Wow, that's a much more complete list than what I was planning to post. Anyway, that should give you a sense of what types of songs Germans sing. I.e., exactly the same songs we sing, plus Falco. Though I will say that the song list has the same problem my original Sunfly list had back in the day, where there will be a relatively unknown song by an artist, but not the artist's big hit. While it's tempting to assume it's because Germans have different taste, I think it's a much safer bet to just assume that the KJ only has songs from a specific set of karaoke disks. And since a certain number of those disks were presumably purchased for the express purpose of obtaining songs by Falco, you can see where some odd titles might have crept in.
Most problematicly sparse artist -- Radiohead. All they have is Street Spirit.
Actually, I think pretty much everyone who sang was way better than the girls in that video. There were a few people who were pretty amazing, especially given that they were all German. When I first arrived, they were actually finishing up some sort of contest that they hold there occasionally. The people in the contest all hung around afterward and kept singing, so that may have pushed the skill level up a bit.
The first song I sang was "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. I got at least one beer bottle raised as a gesture of approval, and I think it generally went over pretty well. I think I also had a sort of fish-out-of-water novelty factor going for me. Maybe like an hour or so later, I sang "Tonight, Tonight" by The Smashing Pumpkins. This was slightly problematic, as they had what I will generously refer to as "The German Version" of the song on karaoke. I think this ended up being both good and bad. It was bad because a) the lyrics were wiping about one measure too slow, and b) the lyrics were very obviously transcribed by a German person, as they were about 30 degrees off from the real lyrics. Anyway, I think this sort of worked out okay, because after having been very obviously tripped up by the mistakes in the first half of the song, I went off-book for the second half and managed to pull it out, which the elite group of German karaoke singers congregated near the stage especially appreciated. By German karaoke standards, it's way more acceptable to scratch a bit on the lyrics anyway, so the first half was still probably above par.
Some songs that the Germans sang: Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody, Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box, Falco - Jeanny, Metallica - Enter Sandman, Metallica - Nothing Else Matters (same Metallica guy), Backstreet Boys - Incomplete (same Metallica guy), Luniz - I Got 5 On It, Alanis Morissette - Bitch, Evanescence (feat. Paul McCoy) - Bring Me to Life (We've really got to work this one into our repertoire. Also, it's worth noting that some German guy spontaneously jumped up on stage and did a really good Paul McCoy, complete with lean-back-and-shout movements reminiscent of the video), ABBA - Thank You For The Music, Limp Bizkit - Take a Look Around, Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Suzanne Vega - Luka, The Eagles - Hotel California, Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, No Doubt - Don't Speak, Kiki Dee & Elton John - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (I had a little run-in with the girl from the duo that sang this song, as she needed a pen and couldn't understand what I was saying when I told here that there was a pen on the table around the corner), Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue (this was done by the KJ), Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues (this was done by a dude with a Johnny Cash t-shirt), Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing (KJ), Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime, Cranberries - Zombie, Cat Stevens - Father And Son.
Wow, that's a much more complete list than what I was planning to post. Anyway, that should give you a sense of what types of songs Germans sing. I.e., exactly the same songs we sing, plus Falco. Though I will say that the song list has the same problem my original Sunfly list had back in the day, where there will be a relatively unknown song by an artist, but not the artist's big hit. While it's tempting to assume it's because Germans have different taste, I think it's a much safer bet to just assume that the KJ only has songs from a specific set of karaoke disks. And since a certain number of those disks were presumably purchased for the express purpose of obtaining songs by Falco, you can see where some odd titles might have crept in.
Most problematicly sparse artist -- Radiohead. All they have is Street Spirit.
posted by Joneseee at 5:23 AM
1 Comments:
Huh, no Oasis or Journey I see...
How was the Bo Rhap? Seems pretty ambitious.
I assume next week you're planning to enter (and win) the contest? Let us know how that goes.
Seriously though, awesome.
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