Karaoke nights @ Bangalore's night clubs

Are you a bathroom singer just waiting to break free? If you think you have the vocal chords or just want to spend an evening differently and yet be in a pub or night club, try going to a night of karaoke: a trend that is rapidly catching on with the city’s pub populace. It’s a welcome change from the regular drink-dinner-disco do and will certainly find favour with the young and the young at heart.

In the city, the hottest karaoke spot is Opus. It’s so big here, that it even has a karaoke competition every year to crown the best singer in the city. Wednesday night sees the warm-up round, where all and sundry croak to their heart’s delight, while the Sunday night rocks with pros setting the stage on fire.

Two other spots that are fast gaining a crowd of karaoke fanatics are Up Beat and Firangi Paani. At Up Beat you can shake your leg on the dance floor to some good old jive music, and also select and sing songs from a repository of old retro hits. Firangi Paani is more up-tempo and the list includes all the pop hits on the current music scene.

If you are a shy singer, down a stiff drink or two before you take the mike and make sure you have a bunch of friends to egg you on. Don’t be intimidated by the regulars and semi-pro vocalists in the city, because at the end of the performance, it’s all about letting your hair down and crooning or croaking to your heart’s content.

If you really aren’t up to being in the spotlight, you can always sing along with the crowd when someone performs a favourite number, or just sit back, bop your head and enjoy a night of a few bloopers, some off-key notes, a starlet performance or two: in other words, a “kroaking” time full of laughter and fun.