Why is karaoke so popular

Karaoke is a popular pastime in many countries. Employees go to the karaoke after office hours. Young adults attend such function with their friends during the weekend. I remember being at the karaoke for the very first time with my former colleagues when I was working as a computer programmer for a life insurance company in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the late 1990s. It was indeed a very exciting, and thrilling experience for me. For the first time, I could actually hold the microphone, and sing my favourite song to some people. During that time, I began to like karaoke, and to realize why it had become a popular pastime

Karaoke was first invented by Daisuke Inoue, a Japanese musician in the early 1970s. Since then, karaoke lounges can be found all over Japan, and around the world especially in other Asian countries. In some restaurants, there are also karaokes for guests at dinners to sing their favourite songs.

Now, here are some reasons why karaoke is so popular. Firstly, karaoke is an equipment that plays the accompaniment, and display the lyrics on a television screen. Each word on the lyrics changes colour one at a time to assist the singer to sing in time. The accompanying music is actually the same music used by the professional or celebrity singer of the song. By having the opportunity to sing to the same accompaniment, you can feel you have been given the special privilege of singing in place of your favourite singer or the person who originally sang your favourite tune. At the same time, singing can also be challenging as the original voice of the singer has been tuned down or removed, and in most cases the accompanists do not play the melody. And so, you also have the opportunity to show off your memory to your friends especially in terms of the melody, and the correct pitch. With the lyrics available, you don’t have to worry about forgetting your line.

When I was at my first karaoke, I had to chance to render a song by the Bee Gees who was also quite popular in Malaysia at that time. The only regret I had was I couldn’t sing anything in Mandarin to further impress my Mandarin-singing colleagues. Fortunately, they appreciated both English, and Mandarin songs. That was not the only time I attended karaoke sessions with my colleagues. For each session, I had been signing the same Bee Gee’s song. My colleagues might have gotten fed up of it. However, I believe, out of courtesy, they did not tell me to stop.

The second reason why karaoke