Karaoke.
Is it an art form? A type of entertainment? A kind of therapy, maybe? An act of recovery, perhaps for someone like me, who as a kid played 45s on the record player in our tenth floor apartment, and dreamed of being a rock star. Or is it just a brilliant way to raise money for our church and have a whole lot of fun in the process?
Karaoke offers a chance to tell a life story, as Norm and Bev did when they shared “Alice”, a song emblematic of their early days of dating. Karaoke gives our section leaders a chance to step out a bit from their official roles. And who knew that Ryan, usually quiet and patiently sitting at the piano, could sing and perform so theatrically and with such gusto? Even friends and partners can join the event: David García Saldaña, composer (and Saunder’s partner), held us in thrall with the unbelievably long note he held at the end of “Run Away with Me.”
And the songs, they kept a’comin’. Karen and Will and Greg and Adrienne and Kevin and Cole all making at least a couple of appearances. I lost count, but I think Leonard was onstage four times. One group materialized spontaneously, five women (Rima, Janet, Karen, Sue and Kathy) organized by Linda, who sang “I Am Woman”. Adrienne and Kion were quite the comedy team in their rendition of “Into the Unknown”. Chloé and Jyvonne treated us with a funny and memorable rendition of “Miaow!”, with Ryan on keys. We will certainly miss the two of them as section leaders.
And of course, we mustn’t forget the UUSM Kazoo Band, who performed the Star Wars theme, a crowd pleaser, without question.
Finally, let’s recognize for a moment the great wonder that is this musical presentation technology. Karaoke allows average people to realize a desire or a longing or a need to do that most lovely human thing: sing a song. And do it well, or well enough, thanks to the perfect instrumental accompaniment provided by the software, and the lyrics unfolding in color on the screen, allowing this average person to do what they would likely never dare to do without the Karaoke technology: stand up on stage right out there in front of god and everybody and sing their song.
