by Ellen Layug

Created on: April 24, 2008   Last Updated: May 05, 2008

I have been a music lover as far as I can remember. Music makes my world brighter and happier so wherever I go, there must be music or else I would literally die in boredom.

In my previous job, in about a decade ago, most of my officemates love to sing so much that they would sing along at every songs played on the radio. And I did that too, but only me hears my voice. I wasn't so confident about my voice and I never sung in front of a person so I was like mimicking.

Since karaoke was first made available in clubs and bars, my officemates and I frequents KTV bars after work. And because it is a public singing bar, one must write his/her name on a piece of paper together with the title of the song he/she wants to sing and drop it in a box. The host of the bar will pick the name of the person who will sing and will enter the code of the song in the karaoke machine. During our first two visits at the bar, I was lucky not to have my name picked!

On our third visit, my girl friend and I, was singing Olivia Newton-John's "hopelessly devoted to you" on our way to the bar with so much emotion. Having noticed that, our guy officemates have sent more than one request for each, to sing that song. I was a bit tipsy then, my cheeks were already pink but turned pale when I heard the host called my name. "What?" I exclaimed. I had no time to ask who the culprit was since I was hurriedly called to get on the stage. It was my first time to sing in front of a crowd, most of which were strangers, and my first time to sing karaoke so I was very nervous then. I really had no idea how I will sing and how does my voice sounds like. But when the machine started to play the song, my nervousness started to subside and I became more and more comfortable as I sing along.

Needless to say, I am now one of those people who can't wait for my turn to sing! Karaoke nowadays has been part of every gathering and occasions, in fact, it's the main attraction. Malls in our place have even established booths for private karaoke sessions and I must say it never goes empty! Perfect for pastime.

Most of us dread to sing in front of the people for fear that we might forget the lyrics and will look like a funny clown. But with karaoke, it is easier to sing your heart out since the lyrics are displayed on the screen in correct phasing. And in my observation, one gains confidence when you regularly sing karaoke. It also does improve the quality of your voice. So now, whenever I hear Olivia Newton-John's "Hopelessly Devoted To You", I remember the first time I sing karaoke. They say first times are really difficult but with karaoke, it is actually not. So if you haven't tried it yet, it's about time to sing like no one's listening!

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