Spotlight Live closed down in March. You can go broke overestimating Americans' desire to shine! The New York City karaoke club was best-known as the place where a patron got murdered -- at Lil' Kim's birthday party, no less -- and for broadcasting a feed from its stage right into Times Square.
Not everyone wants to be an American Idol, I guess.
It's been a hard couple of months for karaoke, if you, like me, like to make broad statements from two teeny examples. Take for instance the plight of a Tokyo-style club (with private rooms) seeking a license to open in Bay Ridge, New York. At the Community Board 10 meeting on March 16, a board member pretty much lost it.
"We don't need no hookers here!" the member shouted, according to the Brooklyn Paper. I beg your pardon, Board Member, but ... what?
Karaoke -- beloved, dorky, somewhat preposterous karaoke -- is hardly a threat to your daughters. It's community-minded, patrons tend to be kindly, and if it takes a couple belts of something to get up your nerve, well, at least you're not drinking alone.
Now, perhaps there are a few places that might strike you as sordid, but not around here. Monster Ronson's Ichiban Karaoke in Berlin, for instance, invites nude (naked!) people to sing -- we hear it is a blast and a holler.
But here in good old happy and slightly fat America, everything is wholesome and fine and the only risk might come from these fine karaoke joints:
Ghosts: Flagstaff, Ariz.
A kid with interesting facial hair fiddled with a sound system as regulars patiently lurked. He broke into the Band's "The Weight," which he neither sang nor knew well; nor was he helped by a malfunctioning screen. Soon another kid went up, with an ironic country tune, and then the pretty blonde bartendrix took the stage to pout and belt through Patsy Cline. I wasn't going to sing. I wasn't! But it was right there in my grand hotel: Karaoke on a Tuesday night? Karaoke on a Tuesday for me?
- MSN City Guides Sidebar Story: What your karaoke selection says about you
