Karaoke!

I was invited for a spot of dinner/karaoke last night at a restaurant on Edgware Road. Now those that have seen me "play" Singstar will know what I think of my vocal talent (in short I have it in spades), so I was kinda looking forward to see how I'd fare in the real deal. However last night either the equipment was broken (the mic making me appear to be out of tune), or real grown up Karaoke is much much harder to do well in than it's Playstation equivalent.

Karaoke is great though. What seems like a bit of drunken fun and games to some, I see as a real test of character and will. Regardless of how good you are at singing, you must be capable of laughing at yourself and taking criticism when you're crooning away in front of the lyric displaying monitor. And last night it was interesting seeing the different characters on the stage - from the quiet ones (both on and off) to the clearly repressed (including a fantastically powerful rendition of BSB's Quit Playing Games With My Heart), to the blatant attention seeking extroverts whose performances were much more than just their singing (cough, splutter, etc). The single thing they all had in common was their bravery.

Another twist was that this was again a Muslim organised event (although there may have been at least one non-Muslim present too). Amongst other things, this meant no alcohol (however judging by our performances we suspect there was some kind of mind-altering drug in the food), totally halaal nosh, and even a break for Maghrib. I've been going to these kinda things for a while now, and although I'll always be up for dinner in an areligious context, there's no doubt how "easier" it is for me (and I suspect the others present) to get to the point of having fun. Something about letting down guards, I guess. And yes I was told that there were single attractive girls there too, not that I noticed of course.

So yes, the night was superb. The food, environment, atmosphere and of course entertainment were all fantastic as well as cheap, and I'm so looking forward to the next one. In the meantime, I think I should practice my singing - y'know just to compensate for any blatantly faulty equipment in the future.

As an aside, this also meant that I missed the last episode of Ha Ha Hee Hee, which I am gutted about. So if anyone has a copy of it I'd appreciate a lend very much. I'll even pay. Maybe.