Karaoke Forums

what are some of your personal all-time favorite karaoke performance that you witnessed either as a host or as a spectator in the crowd

1) i was a spectator. this college-aged, random, single, slim black chick sang guns n roses "welcome to the jungle" and killed it. she had axl's voice and hit all of his mannerisms. she hit every note, every pitch, it was flawless. i've seen a rack of folks attempt "welcome to the jungle" and it's a hard song to do. this chick nailed it easily and worst of all, the room was empty so only like 5 of us witnessed it. she really got into it too. carried the mic like him, had his bravado, you name it, hit every ad-lib. it was a knockout performance. to me, she literally channeled axl rose. it was unforgettable. and props to the kj that night who turned the music up.

2) (i don't like to label folks this way, i don't believe in assuming to know folks sexuality but) there's this gay guy or effeminate guy, who kills michael jackson's "butterflies." had mj heard this dude sing it first, mj would've switched it up, like yeah, that's the way i should've sang it. dude owns this song. if this dude ever covers it and releases it as a single, he'd make some $$.

i had a white guy show up and do "kiss - prince", not a regular at all.

he nailed it, and his dancing and stage performance was awesome totally captivated the entire bar. then 1yr later he comes in again and puts up "kiss" again I know what we were in for. and again stole the entire show for the night.

for about 4yrs this happened at one of my location's small motel bar. I have to say that was the one that sticks in my mind the most.

the motel bar shut down and I've seen this guy at other bars but have never seen him do kiss again, I even asked if he'd sing it and said he retired the song.

so I have to believe it was my small bar and awesome karaoke'ness that he only wanted to sing that at karaoke show.

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For some reason, both things that came to mind for me were two different performances of the same song, a song I don't normally care for personally: Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

1. Rowdy Friday night show, club atmosphere. Nerdy white guy and tall black dude with a massive afro put up "Teen Spirit" as a duet. Black dude starts singing and does great; then, during the first chorus, white guy starts rapping. He claimed afterwards that it was an impromptu freestyle -- whether it was off the top of his head or prewritten, it was FANTASTIC. Normally I don't allow freestyling, because someone drunk who fancies himself a rapper just stumbles and swears all over a beat, but I let this one ride out because I was captivated, as was everyone else. It was fluid, nimble, rhythmic... just a great-sounding rap. For the next verse and chorus, they switched roles: white guy rapped over the more subdued verse instrumental, and black guy bellowed the hook perfectly. Both of them were just so GOOD. Some of the most rapturous applause I've ever heard at a karaoke show occurred that night.

2. Semi-popular local radio DJ shows up at my weekly gig. Now, we'd already been acquaintances, so him showing up was nothing new, but for months upon months he never sang. Huge, affable black guy, always quick with a smile and a kind word and a bear hug -- awesome dude. One night, he tells me he's ready to sing, and hands me a slip for "Smells Like Teen Spirit". When he sang, the crowd went NUTS. Dude had them all in the palm of his hand. He wasn't particularly good -- not bad either, it must be said -- but his stage presence was unfathomable. He demonstrated an innate ability to suck you into his fun orbit -- he was having so much fun singing that song that it was impossible to witness it without you, in turn, having just as much fun. He had a mosh pit at the foot of the stage, an entire bar flocking up to the front to rock out -- it was just such a great performance. He's sung a few times since then, never the same song twice, and has put on similar great performances of everyone from Simple Minds to Busta Rhymes, but nothing beat the pure thrill of that first one.

For myself, there are 2 memorable performances.

1) Singing performance: A woman who was partially blind sang Evanescene's "Bring Me To Life" better than Amy Lee herself (if that's even possible). I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

2) Stage presence: I haven't seen this guy for a while, but he sings anything the host throws at him. This guy was so ENTERTAINING to watch that you don't notice he isn't a strong singer. He involves the crowd in every song, gets passers-by to stop and watch, and everyone usually wants an encore. I haven't seen him anywhere since the host moved away.