BREAKING: Bobby Karaoke has caught wind of A 15 year old Finnish student who was fined Friday for doing his teacher a favor - publicizing the teacher’s karaoke work by posting it on YouTube. Call me old fashioned, but last time I checked, helping to advance someone’s music career wasn’t grounds for a fine from the government.

Nevertheless, in BIG GOVERNMENT Finland, that’s how they roll. Toni Vesikko posted the secret karaoke video on Youtube and was found guilty of “intentional defamation” (meaning: laughing unduly at a pathetic karaoke performance). Smacked with a couple thousand dollar fine, I bet his parents won’t be letting him anywhere near the family computer for awhile. And that’s a shame, because Youtube needs more karaoke vids.

God bless,
Bobby K

Idaho State University (ISU to locals) masquerades as a fine state-sponsored institution of higher learning. But Bobby K has gotten the inside scoop from a distant relative working at the school paper that the “university” is really a front for karaoke lifers!!! Hellz yeah.

The school’s Daily Vidette newspaper (dumb name) leaked this article on the ‘net. Turns out ISU’s “First Weekend” is back for its fourth year on campus and it will give students many karaoke-related events to participate in this weekend as they hit campus.

Normally, we wouldn’t leak such unsubstantiated rumors peddled by a small time newspaper, but since this came from a distant relative, I couldn’t resist. Now, where I stand on this is complicated. I like big government out of my karaoke. But, it seems the politicos in Boise have funneled a sizable chunk of the state’s budget to advance karaoke culture in their state. Love that. These kids are getting more than just a degree at ISU. They’re learning singing skills that may help land them their first job once they get out here to LA.

Way to go Idaho!

Love,
Bobby Karaoke

Bobby Karaoke just got back from a long weekend in northwest North Carolina! It was great: karaoke in the morning, a sensible lunch, and karaoke in the evening. Here’s the karaoke scoop in Winston-Salem:

Tuesdays:

• Pretty boilerplate Buffalo Wild Wings chain serves up the Tuesday night karaoke scene @ 1045 Hanes Mall Blvd.

Wednesdays:

• WHO’S IN IT FOR THE MONEY? Practice the other days of the week at the other amateur joints, and then on the third Wednesday of each month, refrain from the lemon juice and head to the Winston-Salem Sports Zone Pub & Grill for an opportunity to bag a sweet karaoke cash prize. Hint: Weak competition is what you’ll face. Whooot! 7838 North Point Blvd.

Thursdays:

• Al’s Club Reno - Singing the sweetest karaoke rhythms at 71 Waughtown Street, Winston Salem, 27127 (Thursdays only)
• Karaoke with D Smooth and LA Sound AT Winston-Salem NC’s hottest karaoke Thursday — The 411… it’s 25 and up, so you gotta be god-awful old, but it’s worth the wait. Don’t even think of wearing jeans with holes in them. 411 N. Cherry St. Winston-Salem.
• Green’s Supper Club - a silly concept for an establishment, but at least the karaoke night is fun! Dig it. 4735 U.S. 29 North, Greensboro, NC

Fridays:

• Tee Time Sports & Spirits at the Healy Plaza is a good time if you’re 8 years old. Otherwise, avoid this place even on karaoke Saturdays.

Saturdays:

• Day of rest in Winston-Salem.

Just what we need! More “big brother” encroachment on the karaoke industry. Unbelievable.

Turns out, according to the Morning Advertiser, Somerset pub karaoke boss Chris Elliot was fined in excess of £50 for smoking!!! Good riddance cried the chap, and he did what any sensible karaoke lover would do - he threw together a mass protest down in Glastonbury.

Karaoke doesn’t kill people - second hand smoke kills people. But is it really the place of big gov to step in and determine what is and what isn’t allowed to kill a karaoke singer? It’s about freedom of expression, folks. First amendment rights that BK fully supports. Sing your heart out FOR JUSTICE.

To the utter dismay of Bobby Karaoke, the author of an article about the hit new fill-in-the-blanks lyrical game show, The Singing Bee (on 10 p.m. Wednesdays on NBC, CH), used the term “karaoke” in his profile of the show. You could call it a typo, an accidental oversight, or an intentional jab at bobbykaraoke.com. We would call it disgusting.

We would also call this type of verbal mudslinging unconscionable:

Despite the shmoozy jocularity of host Joey (Fat One) Fatone — whose enthusiasm is as infectious as the bubonic plague — I found myself getting annoyed at the way minor inconsistencies were penalized when every other word was correct.

Infectious as the bubonic plague? Does this guy think he’s funny? Bobby Karaoke had a childhood encounter with the bubonic plague and his glands swelled up like soccer balls.

I hereby declare that our readers should boycott TheRecord.com for peddling filth.

The Herald Times is reporting that Delta Dawn & The Karaoke Cowboy have that announced that Fond du Lac resident Chelly Pittenger will be their finalist in the 2007 Karaoke Battle of the Bars competition!

The event will be held at Manitowoc County Fair on Sunday August 26, 2007 - bring your ears…because word on the street is that Chelly can sing.

I’ll be the gentleman in the back wearing the seersucker suit and drinking a wild turkey. At 7 p.m., I have agreed to be the keynote speaker/winner announcer. Expect a drunken, long-winded lecture on the power of karaoke in American society and the responsibility that comes with it.

Karaoke is life.

For years, Harrisonburg Virginia has been on my list of “Places with karaoke that could become places with GREAT karaoke.”

Well, my friends… it looks like that time has come. The Rocktown Weekly (Reporting on the “Flip side of Harrisonburg” - I know, stupid tag line), spoiled the fun by leaking the mother load of sweet karaoke events.

You have Bennie’s Beach on Broadway, with karaoke on Friday and Saturday, you got Buffalo Wild Wings on Thursday, Spanish karaoke at Guzman’s, free karaoke at Mulligan’s Pub and Eatery down in Staunton, free pool at The Pub (1950 Deyerle Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801) and karaoke Tuesdays.

But if Main Street singing is your thing, DO NOT MISS Alley Lanes Sports Grill on Friday… Virginia karaoke at its finest.

With all the bad going on in the world, looks like there still are some rays of bright light out there. Mad props, Harrisonburg.

Oddly titled France24 is reporting that Sir Alec Guinness (the grandson of the Guinness Book of World Records) has certified that Finnish karaoke Club Kouvola has SHATTERED the record for hours of continuous karaoke. The previous record set by the Chinese in 1984 was 145 hours, but the singing continued today as the residents of Kouvola exclaimed “We won’t stop until we’ve sung non-stop for 240 hours.”

For a country that has karaoke machines in taxis, I would call Finland’s goal of 240 hours underwhelming. Especially considering that it is a group effort (not one person singing the entire time).

My buddy Charles held tune for upwards of 190 hours BY HIMSELF until he burst his larynx during The Verve Pipe’s “We Were Only Freshman” and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Unfortunately, this was at a private party, so Guiness Book wouldn’t certify it, and he never sung again.

Anyway, enough about me. Let’s talk about you.

Singme.com, the world’s first and only mp3 backing tracks and video karaoke download store today launches its pop song catalog.

I can hardly contain myself. Not.

Singme has for YEARS been trying to be the BobbyKaraoke.com of Hong Kong. Not gonna work, bub…. because we cover the far east karaoke scene like sweat on the mic.

So they think the new pop song karaoke atalog will be the nail in my coffin? For those who know me, that notion is laughable because I’m a fairly largish man with a lot of skills. Ain’t no one gonna break my stride, ain’t no one gonna tear me down. Oh, no - I got to keep on blogging!!!!!!!!

I say… bring it on. I welcome the competition, and it only makes the Internet karaoke scene all the more enriched for our readers and patrons.

Karaoke is for life - pop music lasts no more than a few months of air time. Come December, when the singme CEO is looking for a second job, I’m going to be resting on my laurels thanks to my quality reporting of the karaoke industry.

The Saipan Tribune dropped a major bomb on Monday… claiming that officials have found a karaoke establishment in Saipan operating as a commercial sex house where women were recruited from China on promises of legal jobs.

The gross implications of this is clear: Nowhere is safe. And this is increasingly troubling, because when the public loses faith in karaoke joints, where else will they turn for moral support? Their barbers? Please, child.

For decades now, mom & pop karaoke joints have been a staple of life in Saipan and elsewhere. Now a few wrong-headed bandits want a piece of the pie and decide to operate a karaoke establishment as a front for the sex slave industry. I believe it was Vonnegut who once wrote that when karaoke goes away… civilization is no more than four years behind.

And that is exactly what is going to happen. People will be turned off from karaoke in Saipan now. The locals will stay home, karaoke tourism will decline, and next thing you know it is back to spear fishing and berry gathering - a devolving phenomenon not unlike what we’re seeing in San Diego, CA.

I hope the proprietors of that illegal shop get the harsh punishment they deserve. As for karaoke, let’s keep it clean, folks.