CJ Morgan loves karaoke. Especially when he performs “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence.
There’s only one problem: He’s not very good at singing it. (In fact, it almost led to a fight at the Austin karaoke bar The Common Interest, after some audience members thought he was making fun of the singer, Amy Lee.)
“I mean, I was,” recalled Morgan, who is an afternoon radio DJ at 101X in Austin. “But I was also just trying to have fun and put on a show during my time.”
Karaoke is like the Nickelback of entertainment — it’s often derided, but it still packs in the crowds. After falling off a cliff during the pandemic, karaoke has come roaring back in the U.S. And Texans aren’t immune. Across Texas you’ll find people boozily belting out Taylor Swift, George Strait, and Migos. We spoke to DJs about the best — and worst — ways to perform at your local dive.
Karaoke, which originated in Japan before blowing up in the U.S. by the 90s, has been part of the American zeitgeist for decades now. For something that requires vulnerability, star power, and skill (or unearned confidence) — why is it still so popular?
Former karaoke DJ Lee Govatos says it’s because karaoke provides a platform for every level of talent. “You can go from a professional singer, to a drunk group of friends, to someone who just has a lot of fun energy, and all of them have the potential to get the same positive reaction,” he told The Barbed Wire. “As long as the performer is having fun with it, the audience has fun with it.”
As a former karaoke DJ myself in the mid 2000s, karaoke night was my mainstay every Wednesday at Scruffy Murphy’s bar in Waco. Students and townies alike packed in to perform for their friends. And in between, I’d play some go-to hits (notably “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers and Outkast’s “Hey Ya!”) to get everyone dancing.
It wasn’t as cool as being in a club, but there was a wholesome energy to it, even when a friend was doing a filthy cover of “Summer Nights” from the movie Grease.
Govatos clearly speaks for a hearty chunk of the population when he said he considers karaoke to be a throwback pastime — and it’s one everyone wants to get in on (see: Carpool Karaoke, “Lip Sync Battle,” and “Cop Pool” Karaoke). “It’s like an extension of what people did before phonographs, radio, TV, (and the) Internet, when they’d sing in churches, social gatherings, (and) living rooms far more than they do today,” he said. “Recorded music put the spotlight on the most talented singers, but most people still want to make music.”
After falling on hard times during the pandemic, karaoke bars have mounted a big comeback. In 2022, the U.S. karaoke industry was estimated at $1.26 billion, a jump of more than 32% from 2020 and a more than 8% increase from 2019, the year before COVID-19 hit. And Texans love their karaoke as much as anyone — anchored by the 45-year-old South Austin 24/7 karaoke bar Ego’s (which just narrowly avoided closing for renovations).
Most karaoke bars have “professional regulars,” Morgan said, who have their go-to song. But his favorites are the amateurs. “I love watching someone without skill break through their nervousness, get on stage for three minutes and go all out,” Morgan said. “It’s more meaningful watching bad singers really try to nail a song they are passionate about.”
Artist and karaoke junkie Leah Tiscione has raised more than $7,000 in an ongoing campaign to write a book, “How To Karaoke Even If You Hate Karaoke,” which will be available in October.
A former karaoke DJ herself, Tiscione was having a blast hosting a karaoke night in Seattle before “COVID ruined the fun.”
By the time karaoke spots began to reopen, she had a newborn and didn’t get to go again until her birthday in May 2023. Tiscione explained the allure, writing: “People (consciously or unconsciously) sing at work, doing chores, in the car, shower, on a walk … it’s an external expression of feeling even more powerful when done in a group, and that rush can be addictive.”
The most popular karaoke songs in the U.S. are “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton, “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, and “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, according to the online karaoke platform Singa. Oh and, of course, Queen’s operatic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Tiscione’s go-to song is the 2012 viral hit “Gangnam style,” whose Korean lyrics Tiscione spent hours memorizing. Crowds are invariably impressed when she performs the song without looking at the lyric screen. “I love to collect memories of stunned faces and high-fives after it’s over,” she wrote.
Of course, there are also plenty of reasons to despise karaoke, too: horrible song choices, abysmal singers, bad sound equipment — plus the fact that some people simply don’t want the attention.
“Even as an avid lover of karaoke, I myself loathe certain aspects of it, so it’s easy to see why some folks can be blinded by rage when they hear it,” Tiscione said. If you’ve ever wanted to try it, she has one major tip: Don’t worry about sounding like a pro.
“Even if Simon Cowell were sitting there judging you, who cares what he thinks?” she said. “We’re all going to die someday.”
