WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

[The following is from the Toledo City Paper, January 24, 2007]

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Best Karaoke Song List: Premiere Karaoke, LLC

Karaoke has come a long way since it first hit the United States from Japan. No longer is it simply a tipsy uncle singing "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang at your wedding. For many people, it's a weekly tradition, a chance to shine and impress a crowded room while celebrating a huge spectrum of music. TCP asked Doug Richardson about the karaoke empire he's built with Micki Greenburg to get some insight into what made Premiere Karaoke our readers' choice for Best Karaoke Song List.

TCP: How long has Premiere Karaoke been around?

DR: To us it doesn't seem that long, but Premiere Karaoke will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this October. We got our "start" at Buster Brown's Lounge in Maumee. Our second year there, Buster Brown's won "Best Karaoke Bar" in the City Paper's ‘Best Of Toledo’ poll, and since then, several of the clubs that we do, or did at that time, have been honored with that award (Jalapenos, JaK's Press Box, and Mutz; Mutz & Bier Stube were winner and runner-up last year, respectively).

TCP: What are some of the places that Premiere services?

DR: We currently provide karaoke services to the following clubs (in alphabetical order): Bier Stube, Buster Brown's, Jalapenos, Mutz, Old Roadhouse, Southwyck Lounge and T-Zers Sports Bar. And yes, we have actually done karaoke wedding receptions.

TCP: What is your favorite thing about being in the karaoke business?

DR: This is a difficult question for me to answer. Other than my love of music (I'm one of those people for whom the music drowns out the voices in my head), I think we enjoy the ability to interact with people of all ages — we've had singers ranging in age from six to over 60. I personally like designing and building the sound systems that we use, and (this may sound crazy) I get a rush from fixing them when they malfunction ... Yeah, that's right, I'm a geek! Fortunately, we rarely have any major problems at the shows.

TCP: What sets Premiere apart from other karaoke companies?

DR: There's really no big secret on how to be sucessful in the karaoke business. Just like any other business, you provide your customers a high quality product when they want it. Aside from our vast song selection and unequaled sound systems (everyone in the business claims to have that), we've recently integrated music videos, together with the karaoke and music tracks, to create a complete entertainment experience. Keeping a fair karaoke rotation is also key. We've also been very fortunate to find some very good karaoke hosts to run our shows over the years.

TCP: Have you noticed any trends (in people's music choices, etc.)?

DR: College kids love singing their grandparents' songs.
Only white boys sing rap music.
If a person comes up to the karaoke host towards the end of the show, and tells him to put his friend up to sing next, it's because either
he's going to get this party started, or
he's gonna Rock This Bar
There's a 99.9999% chance the singer's going to suck!

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Let me just add that I am proud to be one of those hosts, and I am honored to be part of Doug & Micki's empire. Congrats you guys! And thanks to everyone who voted for us!

"THE BAD MACHINE DOESN'T KNOW IT'S A BAD MACHINE..."

I was in Southwyck the other day, dodging the tumbleweeds, and it really is a depressing place. The number of open shops seems to be in the single digits, and the only people who are walking around are the people who are only walking around.

Mall walkers. The sight of them never fails to remind me of The Wheel in "Midnight Express". Every now and then I'll go up to one and say "Remember, a good Turk always walks to the right."

A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR ALL YOU STAR TREK FANS TO CHEW ON

While watching a rerun of Star Trek: Voyager, a thought occured to me.

Now for those of you with lives, in the Trek universe, the Milky Way galaxy is divided into four quadrants. Earth is located in the Alpha Quadrant, the Voyager ship is stranded in the Delta Quadrant, etc. The point is that, to the best of my knowledge, everything in Star Trek shows or movies takes place within our galaxy.

In other words, all of Trek is 'intragalactic'. Which means that any time you hear them use the word 'intergalactic', it's pretty much wrong. If there were any 'intergalactic' travel going on, for example, that would have to entail a trip to another galaxy.

I now brace for impact and await the onslaught of emails from apoplectic Trekkers. (Though it would be nice to know if my pal Willie is still reading this.)

Olbermann on Bush

I think he's pissed. Excellent job, Keith.

ELITE 8 AWARDS FOR 2006

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: "Rescue Me" Soundtrack--various artists
GEAK ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rescue Me
CATCH PHRASE OF THE YEAR: "What up, sugar skull?"--Steve Dahl
MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR: "Whopperettes"--Burger King
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Here It Goes Again"--OK Go
WEBSITE OF THE YEAR: YouTube

As for SONG OF THE YEAR, I'll be listing the results of the 128-song slugfest in the coming days. There was no clear favorite, and some of the leading contenders going in didn't even crack the top 10! In the end, the winner was decided by a slim margin, and I can honestly say that, even considering the many epic SOTY battles that have taken place in years past, the 2006 SOTY tourney will go down as the wildest, craziest, most competitive, and greatest in history!