5 Tips To Give a Decent Karaoke Performance

I believe that Karaoke is something everyone should try at least once in their life (and group singing doesn't count). Being willing to stand in front of a group of strangers and belt out a song when you have a mediocre voice builds something in a person. Whether it is character which is built, that is another question. Still, if you are going to go for it, I do recommend following a few of the below helpful hints to make your performance at least a little less embarrassing.

1. Pick a Song You Know Well
The better you know the song the better. You'll be less dependent on the screen and might even remember a flourish here and there.

2. Pick a Song That fits your pitch
This is kind of harder to know, but matching a song to your personal timbre can make you seem like a better singer than you are. Good singers can pull off any range. But then again, if you're a good singer you have nothing to worry about.

3. Avoid Long Instrumental Solos
Maybe I'm alone here, but if I'm singing I kind of forget I'm up there. But if I'm just standing there I feel like a total idiot. Even worse, I start to feel pressure to dance or at least groove a little w/ the tune- which is a bad bad idea for this soul-less white boy.

4. Get Into It
There's no worse performance than the person who doesn't want to be there. You know, the one who sings quietly and keeps on laughing uncomfortably. If you're going to do this, get into it. And that doesn't mean you need to put on some crazy extreme diva display. But everyone can at least belt it out a little.

5. Get really Drunk
Although you can be too sober for Kareoke, you can never be too drunk. Case in point was a bad Karaoke night for me when I sang (or rapped I guess) Bust a Move stone cold sober (and also violeted rules #1 and #3) and ended the night with full-on wasted meandering Rainbow Connection. Guess which performance I'm still embarrassed about?