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The Documentary: Karaoke as Art?

The Documentary: Karaoke as Art?: Karaoke as Art?

A karaoke singer, Credit: Mark Mainz/Getty Images

24/12/2014 GMT

Karaoke as Art?

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Karaoke as Art?, Karaoke as Art?

Is karaoke now an art form? Music critic Katie Puckrik hits the clubs in Portland, Oregon

Is karaoke now an art form? Music critic Katie Puckrik hits the clubs in Portland, Oregon, to find out.

Rumour has it that one of the most exciting music scenes in America is happening right now in Portland, Oregon and does not feature a single person playing an instrument. So Katie Puckrik, music critic and presenter, heads out on a karaoke crawl across the city to find out if karaoke really is the centre of cool in Portland.
 
Portland is a city known as a foodie paradise and famed for its microbreweries. It has a bookshop that takes up a whole block of the city and boasts a strong local democracy. Above all Portland is intensely musical. But why karaoke? Journalist Dan Kois is convinced that Portland is a city devoted to chasing that feeling of doing something you love, just for a moment, and being recognised for it, no matter how obscure or unnecessary or ludicrous it might seem to the straight world. As they say, 'Karaoke makes regular people rock stars and rock stars regular people'. 
 
On Katie’s karaoke crawl she meets eminent KJs (karaoke jockeys), in particular John Brophy whose Baby Ketten Karaoke nights are where the serious performers go. He has eradicated the top 100 favourite songs from his list so everyone has to dig deeper to find more challenging material.

At Chopsticks II, she meets a KJ who admits that serious karaoke fans are addicted to performance. She meets a teacher who runs a karaoke club in his school and one night she gets up and sings live with a karaoke band called Karaoke from Hell who have been playing backing tracks for amateur singers for 22 years. 

At another club she trips over a merry band of puppeteers who have brought their alter egos out for a night of singing and performance. At Baby Ketten Karaoke, where the stakes are high, she meets performers who make a point of never singing the same song twice.

(Photo: Man sings into a microphone. Credti: Getty Images)

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