Billy Blanks Jrs Cardioke

For most of us lifting a beer between singing songs is the most exercise we want on our karaoke nights out.  So imagine “Cardioke” with this mouthful of a description:  “an interactive physical and visual jumbo screen cardio-vascular, sing-a-long/karaoke work out … incorporating proper diaphragmatic performance breathing while being able to accommodate all genres of music.”

That’s the concept that Anthony P. Ricco says he came up with and pitched to Billy Blanks, Jr. and Sharon Blanks.  If the name Billy Blank rings a bell it’s probably because of the Tae Boe fitness guru you see doing the infomertials, and yep, these are his youngsters.  Ricco is now claiming that they fraudently applied for a trademark on the name and failed to pay him 30% of the gross profits to which he is due.

This gets so complicated it wears me out.  You can read an earlier complaint that the Blanks filed against Riccio and on which they received a judgment.  It’s kinda interesting because of how things work in the high powered world of entertainment.

I’m not sure what the big fuss is because the trademark lapsed and is no longer valid anyway.  It was “abandoned” February 28, 2008.

Ricco and the Blanks used to be friends according to news reporst.  I’m guessing they no longer invite each other to their Saturday afternoon cookouts now.

Witch from The Wizard of Oz casting a spell on people who sue her stage production

In what is an insult to karaoke fans everywhere, the London newspaper The Mail is reporting that Adrian Bradbury is launching a legal action against the producers of a stage musical production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’. 
 
What’s his complaint?

Mr. Bradbury, a fan of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ says, “When the music starts it normally makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, but instead it was obvious that it was a synthesised backing tape.”

Now granted, he probably is going to be a bit more critical than you or me because he is a professional musician.  He says the use of the karaoke tracks meant “there could be absolutely no interaction between the singer and the music”.  He did compliment the show by saying “there were some good special effects and a lovely little dog - but it wasn’t a musical.”

Sir Harrison Birtwistle, the UK’s foremost living composer, supported Bradbury by writing “The Wizard of Oz is a musical, composed for a cast of singers/actors with orchestral accompaniment, with a musical director in overall control. Without the orchestra or musical director a performance of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is best described as karaoke.”

Birtwistle explains that in a properly performed musical or opera there is constant interaction between the singer and the band or orchestra. “In karaoke there is no such meaningful dialogue between the singer and the pre-recorded soundtrack - it is no more possible than a caller having a meaningful conversation with an answerphone.”

Bradbury says that it was deceptive advertising for the theater to advertise the show as a “musical”, and he wants his £134.50 back (about $220).  He and his brother, their wives, and seven chldren attended the performance.  No word from the kids on whether they felt deprived.  But for the cost of the tickets, it hardly seems worth the bother to file a lawsuit.

Does wearing a surgical mask while singing karaoke decrease infections?

The swine flu has come as an unexpected benefit to some karaoke parlors in Japan.  Over 4,432 kindergartens, schools, college and universities have been closed this week at the request of the government, to help contain the cases of swine flu.  Nationally, Japan has the fourth largest number of cases of the flu and fortunately no one in the country has died from it.

So what happens when you have hundreds of thousands of bored school kids who are supposed to stay home?  Of course, they all want to go out and have some fun since they have some unexpected and unscheduled days off.  So away they go to the nearest karaoke club.

A karaoke club manager said: “We suddenly had a number of high school students after 2pm yesterday, right after the announcement that schools would close for a week.  All of our karaoke rooms were full at one point, and I’m expecting something similar today.  I don’t have the right to say something like ‘you should stay at home.’”

However, another manager who was interviewed indicated that about 10 different groups of high school students came to his establishment yesterday.  He said he declined to accept the students when he found they were supposed to stay at home while their schools were closed.

Some of the first outbreaks in Japan were between the students of two schools who got together for a volleyball tournament.

Wonder if this Japanese invention would allow all the kids to sing without spreading germs around?

Urusakunai Kara Ok accessory for the wii will muffle your karaoke singing so everyone around you can sleep

In the “things that will make you feel really weird about yourself even if you are alone” department, we present the Urusakunai Kara OK! accessory for the Wii.  Roughly translated, that means “Not Noisy Kara OK”.

This is a USB microphone with a large black rubber cup that reminds me of - well, I really don’t want to say.  Let the jokes begin.

This unusual looking device appears to have been designed for singers who have  a spouse or roommate or perhaps neighbors that are tired of hearing them belt out tunes at 2 AM.  The rubber cup is supposed to muffle the singing to make it, well, less annoying to others.

On the good side, the cup is removable so you can wash out the spit and other nasties that might build up throughout an evening of energetic singing.  It’s also XP and Vista compatible.

This must be an item developed almost exclusively for the Japanese market, because I think this is the first time in my life I have not been able to find an item on eBay.  And darn, I really wanted one too.

Dance students taking classes to learn pole dancing

Now HERE is an idea I can get behind — pole dancing in karaoke clubs.  I have no idea how pole dancing in a karaoke club works, but I’m sure willing to give it a try.  No, No, wait.  I don’t mean *I* am going to pole dance, I just want to watch all the ladies do it.

Apparently pole dancing in karaoke clubs is pretty normal and popular among the young people  in certain areas of China.  It became controversial when one of the many Chinese sub-governments decided to ban it.  In a move that made all the karaoke bar owners sigh with relief, in the end the government decided not to put the prohibition into place.  “The initial draft to disallow pole dancing aimed to nip erotic performances in the bud,” said an official surnamed Wei at the Culture, Broadcasting and Press Bureau. “But we’ve found no law in China that forbids pole dancing, so we decided to delete the stipulation.”

They did end up passing a new regulation that will prevent erotic performances at venues, including a detailed stipulation to make “all balconies transparent” to people on the street outside.  Huh?  Explain that one to me.  Maybe there was a problem with the language translation software, but that is something else I’d like to see.  Those inventive Chinese folks.  Transparent balconies.  Cool.

Mac the Moose a large roadside attraction of Moose Jaw

The Minto United Church in Moose Jaw will be rockin’ and rollin’ May 22nd as a man attempts to set a new Guinness karaoke marathon world record for continuous karaoke singing by an individual.

Ken Parsons is the singer and is heading up the whole project.  He’s looking for folks to help him reach his goal.  The current record is 46 hours and 38 minutes but Ken is aiming to hit 52 hours. The Guinness World Record Committee has several requirements for the record to be official and Parsons needs some volunteers to help with timekeeping and the changing of songs, as well as a certified first responder on scene at all times.

The town of Moose Jaw, located in Saskatchewan, Canada, seems an unlikely place for this attempt.  But this retirement and tourist area of 32,000 residents serves as a hub for the hundreds of small towns and farms in the surrounding area.  Maybe there will be lots of support for what will be a very hoarse man trying to break this record.  We’ll bring you an update on whether he makes it or not.

Something resembling this caused a near riot at a karaoke show in Beaverton, Oregon

So, let’s say you are out singing karaoke with some of your buddys late one night, and there is a woman belting out a tune and you decide to smack her on the rear.  Then her husband comes up and confronts you and before you know it everybody is throwing chairs and beer bottles and then, whoa brother, here come the police.  Such was the story at the Azteca Restaurant in Beaverton, Oregon when Yemby Gomez decided that grabbing a quick feel was easier than trying to just do the manly thing and pick up a drunk woman.

Husband to the rescue, lots of mahem, panic, and punches.  It took 12 policemen and a significant amount of pepper spray to get things under control.  When all was said and done, seven people ended up in jail on charges from riot and disorderly conduct to, In Yenby’s case, harrassment.  And the Azteca is being investigated by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission for serving underage patrons.

But at least we know that in Beaverton some men will stand up for their woman and take it to the mat to defend their honor.

Chris Chong Chan Fui Director of the Movie "Karaoke"

Clocking in at 75 minutes, the Malaysian film “Karaoke” is scheduled to be screened at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival this month. It’s directed by Chris Chong Chan Fui and this is his first full length film.

Best we can tell, the plot runs something like this:

The lead character is Betik. He snubbed his dad’s funeral a few years back which of course did not sit well with his mother. She felt betrayed by has absence. Betik decides he wants to turn his life around and build a future back home with his mother.

Betik takes on a day job shooting karaoke videos. At night, he tries to help his mother at the family’s karaoke bar downstairs. This is a karaoke hotspot where the local Indian estate workers, their families, and the Malay Muslim villagers next door gather and sing. It’s here that Betik meets a girl who seduces him with a future that he had dreamed about.

But nobody is as naïve as they seem and everybody wants something.

A story of love, betrayal, manipulation, deception and redemption. What more could you ask for in a movie about karaoke? Uhhh…maybe some karaoke? Have no idea if there is much singing, and since this is a Malaysian film, chances are they are not singing “Rhinestone Cowboy”. But we guess it’s another example of the continued popularity of karaoke throughout the world.

Now, two years later, it’s back.  “Lilburn has matured, and we want to keep it vibrant,” Mayor Diana Preston told The Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Our focus is keeping our business community strong and that means a diversity of businesses.”

So sing your heart out, Lilburn.  A two year karaoke ban is enough to make anyone appreciate your newly won freedom to belt down a drink and belt out a song.

Two Vietnamese karaoke singers trying to stop themselves from dancing

In a move that has a lot of citizens of Vietnam scratching their heads, the government is proposing to ban dancing in karaoke clubs.  Karaoke is enormously popular in Vietnam, but so are prostitution and drug use.  By stopping the dancing, the government hopes to - yup, you guessed it - cut down on prostitution and drug use. 

The governmental thinking seems to go something like this: people who take the designer drug ‘ecstasy’ like to dance and hang out with prostitutes so by banning dancing the problem should be solved. 

“Karaoke parlors are for singing, not for dancing,” the newspaper Thanh Nien (Young People) quoted Le Anh Tuyen, a ministry official, as saying.

This has led some skeptical observers to wonder exactly what would constitute dancing, and who would monitor it.  Can you imagine singing karaoke standing ramrod straight without moving around a bit?  Violators would be fined, although the amount is not yet specified.

The proposed regulations would also extend the hours of karaoke parlors and dance clubs from midnight until 2 a.m. - but only those located in luxury hotels. That provision appears to be intended to attract more foreign tourists in the face of the global economic downturn.  Maybe they’re hoping to encourage foreign tourists to support the local economy by spending money on drugs and prostitutes.