What is Karaoke?
1.
Singing without a live orchestra or band. Originally meaning "without
The guy who thought up
karaoke created a bar owner's dream, because as patrons provide their own entertainment by singing along with a machine, management saves a fortune by not hiring talented musicians.
See
2.
A kind of backwards talent contest where the aim is to sing to sing other peoples songs as badly as possible.
The true losers in karaoke are the people who try hardest.
eg. I hope this entry is not reviewed by a karaoke enthusiast.
3.
Singing accompanied by an instrumental soundtrack specifically made for "karaoke machines".
These soundtracks are usually songs in which the main melodic line has been removed (leaving ony the accompaniment intact.)
Karaoke is an agglutination of two Japanese words kara (empty) + oke (shortened version of okesutera/orchestra).
"Hey do you wanna go out for karaoke later?"
4.
the sustenance of any Filipino party.
The party really started when all the old filipino ladies started singing "Top of the World" on karaoke.
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5.
An event that allows you to see that you don't know a song as well as you thought you did, esp. for verses.
Even though the words were right there on the screen, I just couldn't figure out how to sing "Dancing Queen" for karaoke.
6.
A painful form of 'entertainment' only to be attempted when very, very, very drunk. (see also
Big John needs a good 8 pints before he is in the mood to murder Hotel California
See
7.
Process by which one sings a song in front of a group of people, with only musical accompanient and scrolling words.
Don't stand. Don't stand so. Don't stand so close to me.