Friday night, karaoke is the place for all TRUE anime fans to be! Show us your burning soul with interpretations of your favourite anime songs, and get a chance to win fabulous* prizes! Bring your friends ... scare your family ... but most of all, have fun and let the whole con hear us!
This year our Karaoke hosts include:
-- One karaoke-mistress
-- One tech goddess
-
Karaoke sign-up will start at noon on Friday at the Registration Desk, and end one hour before karaoke begins. We will NOT be taking sign-ups during karaoke unless there are fewer than 10 signups throughout the rest of the day**.
-
One song per individual. That includes duets. (But ... but ... that's not fair!) Look at it this way. Person A and Person B want to get up and sing solos. But Persons A and B also want to do a duet. That's two singers, three songs. Meanwhile, Persons C through G are waiting to sing at all while people who've already sung get to go again. If everyone's sung and there's still time**, we may allow for second songs. But please, please, get up ONCE. If we see your name twice, you're going to be asked to choose one. If you don't pick one, we will.
-
No a capella. No exceptions. None. I'm sure you're an amazing singer. I understand that maybe you can't find the CD. I'm sure you really want to sing, PLEASE just this once. Sounds mean, I know, but there are plenty of reasons for it. If you cannot present us with a piece of music to sing to in some form, we can't help you.
-
Songs MUST be from some form of JAPANESE ENTERTAINMENT: that is, an anime, a JAPANESE video game, or a JAPANESE live drama ... J-rock is iffy, but we'll let it by. (Note the 'J' there.) Nothing from American cartoons or video games (sorry, no 'Portal' song). If the song really is in another language, that's fine ... because we REALLY want to hear someone do the Russian song from 'Ghost in the Shell.'
-
Songs must be four minutes OR LESS. We won't reject you if you get up to do a song longer than four minutes, but we'll fade you out once you reach your time.
-
Bananas are good.
-
Bring your own mp3 player or CD. If you choose to bring an mp3 player, please come early so we can make sure it works. (We recommend burning off a CD and testing it before you sign up, since mp3 players are fraught with peril.) If you don't have a CD or mp3 of your song, please refer to Rule #3.
-
No lighters, please. If you want to wave something, use your cell phones or your PSPs or whatever you young punk kids carry nowadays. You might set off the sprinklers, and costumes ain't cheap.
-
If you get up to sing, you MUST sing! Don't lip-sync, don't get up and just plain not sing, and don't be a wiseacre and do 'Tank.'
-
When you're in the audience, be good! Don't boo or heckle. Feel free to get up and dance -- just don't storm the stage, and try to avoid conga lines (your karaoke-mistress has been trampled twice in those).
-
Begging for an exception to any of these rules will result in the releasing of the karaoke-mistress's rabid wildebeest bodyguards.
-
Think about what other people might be likely to sing. For one thing, a variety of songs makes things fun. For another, someone else might get the song you want first. To be safe, you might want a back-up. First come, first serve.
-
Dance! If it's good enough for the cosplay emcee, it's good enough for you. Be alive up there, and keep it interesting. Wear a costume if you have one. (And if you don't, please wear SOMEthing.)
-
Hold the microphone close enough to your face to 'whisper sweet nothings to it.' Don't hold it too far away, or we won't hear you; and don't 'eat' it, or it'll be muffled and difficult to understand.
-
If at all possible, use an actual karaoke track. We know it can be tough to find them, so if you can't, just make sure you sing good and loud so we're hearing you and not the original vocalist.
You can signup for Karaoke before convention by contacting the Karaoke Coordinators. Please send us your Name, Song Title, Artist and Media Type.
You can signup at the convention with the deadline set a couple hours before the event. The Karaoke signup sheet will be located near the Registration Desk.
Whether you signup via email or in person, please stop by to drop off the CD; confirm your sign-up status; and let us know if it's coming off an MP3 player instead of a CD. If you don't stop by to check in before the event, you will be removed from the list.
* Fabulousness of prizes subject to change.
** This has never happened at AMA karaoke before.