Karaoke

I remember the first time I get a chance to sing in a karaoke machine. Actually, it was my first Christmas in five years working as a Technical Support Specialist in an internet service provider way back 1999. And so we sang our blues away, three male co-workers (two of them were my former rivals, but eventually became good acquaintances, the other became my best bud) having the same function like mine, three female co-workers, one assigned in marketing, one assigned in sales, and one assigned in accounting, and finally, our boss – the manager.

Honestly, I don’t have guts to sing in front of people I just met (I was just hired then and still absorbing information I should expect to learn). It’s sort of being formal whenever I communicate with them, and impression was still a factor because it’s where I would become regular employee or not depends on.

So we rented a room just right for the eight of us. It was a little cozy and relaxing,  like you wouldn’t care for the world even if you sing in your most awful way because you know nobody would hear you except the people whom you are with.

But these people were new to me, so hey, I spotted beer, and drank my shyness away. After few moment, thinking, “I’m good at it, why be shy… I mean, I’m not that good but I do sing at home especially when I’m alone and I can tell my voice is just fine”. I started grabbing the mic and drowned all the timidity in me (LOL). And I sang as loud as the person who was actually singing like it was my song so we ended up on a duet.

And we were so drank that we were even singing all the way home.

Well, if you happen to read this (I don’t know what twist of event that your browsers get to be redirected to this site), I’m sure you’d know it’s you people I’m pertaining to. And I bet you surely agree that that night sure was a blast.

So we talk about karaoke and singing and hitting the roof with your lungs pushed to the limit. And we do know karaoke machine is a cool fad your gramps would envy how easy and popular it is nowadays compared to their times. But really, can we answer the questions; “How and when did it start?”, or “where did it begin?” If yes, either you were doing research for you younger brother’s school project about karaoke, or you go out of concentration everytime you attempt to sing unless you figure out the answers to these questions, and so you did researching. Otherwise, countrymen, lend me your ears..err.. I mean eyes.

Anyway, karaoke is believed to have started in Japan during the days when there is no izakayas yet, since in the early times, entertainment has been defined most closely to singing and/or dancing with instruments, and it is said that during evenings when the bar is getting ready to accept customers, a performer sings on a stage along with a band. Unfortunately, the band is not there all the time so they have recorded the usual piece the band plays. Ergo, when they couldn’t make it in a certain evening, the bar would just play the recorded band piece and the singer would sing along with it. Surprisingly, the bar labeled it “karaoke”.

From the japanese word karano, which means “empty”, formed the word kara, as in karate. Kara, as in empty, and te, as in hand, thus form “empty hand”. From the word okesutora, meaning “orchestra”, where oke has originated. And so the terminology karaoke is formed, which in japanese is “empty orchestra”. Ta-daaa!

Geez! So everybody’s talking about karaoke. And why not, it’s popular! Learning from them, everyone has their experience with this creative, addictive, magical, music machine. We wonder.. what makes this popular singing machine so close to the hearts of pros and amateurs alike? Well for one thing, it does make a noticeable difference. Hey have you heard your voice as you sing along with a song in a karaoke? Surely, you do not sound like your every morning voice when you take a shower, do you? So it’s not really an overstatement to express that it is a breakthrough in a world of promising singers. Especially when they hit the highest tones, boy they feel like Celine Dion is just a few songs away. No joke. In fact, I used to work in an internet company where our office is in a mall, and everyday when I go to work, people would gather there, the usual faces you see every single day, line up to show off their everyday-polish-this voices as soon as the mall people turns the machine on. Would you ever guess if it’s Luciano Pavarotti singing? One could never really explain but for sure understands how nature works when something in you keeps on pushing you to do a certain thing you know you are eventually getting good at. Probably, as those people go there and do their specialties, may be ballad, may be love songs, they get popular. They might even have fans. No doubt, it is one overwhelming experience when you sing on a karaoke, you hear people applause at you, and you know you have a voice comparable to those of MOTOWNs, hey you deserve to take a bow.

Err.. Earth, Wind, and Fire, maybe? Pass the microphone, please.

No holiday could ever replace Christmas in the heart of many.

For families, it is a time to gather, regardless how far you may need to travel. The son brings his wife and kids home to nanay and tatay, though they needed to travel far a day before to avoid the rush. The daughter has called from abroad around noontime to great her parents, brother, nephews, nieces and sister-in-law a Merry Christmas. She could no longer wait for midnight to dial his father’s mobile number, lest she suffers network congestion. Unfortunately, there is no landline at home. It would matter to nanay and tatay to know that she’s fine, that although she misses them all especially that it’s Christmas, she is alright and would celebrate Christmas with friends. It would be half-true of course because inside she’s aching to be home.

While nanay and the daughter-in-law prepare food for Noche Buena, tatay sets to prepare the videoke using the magic mic his son gifted him last Christmas. The son knows his father by heart. When he was younger, his tatay and his titos would occasionally gather over a bottle of brandy and take turns in singing to the top of their lungs a la Matt Monroe, Tom Jones, Victor Wood and the all-time favorite Frank Sinatra.

Tonight, the competition for the top score is between father and son. Or so, they thought. Because after dinnertime at around 7PM, the titos have come to join the aspiring videoke kings. Tugged along were cousins, and aunties.

“So, this is Christmas,” says a good Christmas song. The cheers, the varieties of songs, the laughs – the fun. Indeed, this is Christmas. And rightfully before the father and the son are left alone a number of Christmas songs have already been sung. One voice above the others from he who holds the mic and the rest join in chorus. It doesn’t matter how bad it may sound, how defeated the well-recorded background is with wrong timing, wrong tone and wrong pronunciation. Tonight, people actually enjoy.

Abroad, the daughter and her Filipino friends share a simple feast. And a little later they join their families in the Philippines in the one passion that binds all – the videoke.

Videoke is everywhere just like Christmas.

Years before, we celebrate holiday seasons in a grand way. There were beautiful decorations, sparkling lights, festive foods and pretty dresses. Children are visiting form house to house to greet their relatives. It was also the event of the year where family members are reunited. Christmas and New Year, indeed, are the most awaited time of the year.

What signals this favorite time of year? For me, it is the breeze of the air and the music that can be heard everywhere. Filipino culture dictates how Filipino people are musically inclined. From folk song to natural instruments, form instrumentals to hard metals, from solo to choir competition… all of these only show how we love music and how music loves us. Not to mention the entrance of Karaoke singing trend. I remember my favorite Karaoke song which goes… “Looking through some old photographs, faces and friends we’ll always remember; watching busy shoppers rushing about, in the cool breeze of December…” Surely, Christmas will be a very happy celebration to remember.

But as time goes by, the celebration became less and less grand. Decorations are simpler, lights are less, foods are less extravagant and clothes are less expensive. I noticed that as one grows up, the less value he or she will give to these seasons and their true meaning. The essence of Christmas is diverted to the gifts people are about to receive and the New Year focuses more on the quality of celebration prepared by a household.

But I realized that Christmas and New Year are just the celebration of what we truly receive form God: that the true meaning of it is Christ Jesus whom the Father have sent us to reveal His unconditional love for us and a beautiful promise of tomorrow.

I am now contented with the simple way my family celebrate this season. In the crises that the world is encountering right now, peace and love will be the greatest gift I can give. I can start sharing this gift within my family. What is more important is that my family is complete and shares the same happiness I received form above. I’ll break the bonds of hatred within me and start a new life as the wonderful promise of God is brought by the year ahead.

Let us welcome Christ in our hearts and live Christmas and New Year not just in this season of the year but every day of our lives.