Opening Doors in
Finland
Behind the Scenes at the Karaoke World Championships 2008
Alex Peak & Barbara Robbins  (Photo Courtesy of www.KWC.fi) 
.........................................................................................................................................................
The hardest part of representing the U.S. in an international singing competition in Lahti, Finland; is remembering to open the elevator door. You see, in Finland, elevators have doors that open out like regular room doors in the U.S., thus you have to open and close them yourselves once the elevator has stopped on a floor; a small detail that the U.S. contestants struggled with during the three days of the Karaoke World Championship Final held October 23rd through 25th. Despite the engineering difficulties though, Wendell Payne, the president of the U.S. National KWC Championship organization, described this year’s event as fun, exciting, and an inspiring tribute to humanity.    

If there is a karaoke heaven, this may be it. It is Finland’s 7th largest city, and there is a karaoke bar on every block according to Payne.  Payne, the U.S. national karaoke champs, Alex Peak and Barbie Robbins, and friends and family sampled the local karaoke nightlife in Lahti at the Dublin Irish Pub and the Ten Dollar Saloon. Finland, by many measures could be called the karaoke capital of the world. It holds claim to karaoke world records, it has more karaoke bars per capita than any other country, it is the founding country of the Karaoke World Championship competition, and has been its host for four of the five years of the competition’s history. At local karaoke bars, this reverence for karaoke is manifest in how local bars have embedded their karaoke audio-visual systems into the sheetrock of the building, like a built-in bar. It is a clear statement to the world, that for Finland, karaoke is here to stay

This year’s 2008 Karaoke World Championship is another tribute to the permanency of karaoke, and how this sport transcends politics, war, language, and even history.  Take ‘uncle Sam’ for instance. That’s what Beirut native, Avak Babikian tells Americans to call him. Babikian attended KWC2008 representing his country, but he also sang for his recently deceased twin brother who died in a bombing.  Then there is Sergey Shebanov, from Moscow, who belted out Sinatra’s “My Way” and vivacious Elaine O’Halloran from Ireland (Second Place) who performed a soulful rendition of “Proud Mary.” It was watching these performers from the far corners of the globe get on stage and interpret American classics, that convinces Wendell Payne that what he is doing is well worth the time, preparation, and 11 hour plane trip.

On those three evenings of karaoke revelry, the closest anyone came to political intrigue was the Austrian contingent’s all night partying with the U.S.’s Alex Peak; plying him with Yeager bombs and beer until 4am could have been a bit of harmless sabotage, but all went well in the end. And in the end, it was Australia and France that took the KWC2008 title, but for Wendell, and everyone who attended from the U.S., it was the beginning of many new friendships across many borders and a chance to pursue a dream that many only think about.  The finalists representing 20 countries were definitely living their dream on this weekend in October. Michael Bates and Juliet Gonnet will be recording their singles in IVK Studios. The runners up are receiving thousands of dollars in cash and prizes, Alex and Barbie have already been booked on a national network morning show, and sponsors are calling for KWCUSA 2009. Maybe this whole karaoke competition thing is a little like being stuck in that elevator in Finland; you have to open your own doors, because they won’t open for you.

Read KaraokeTraveler's exclusive interviews with the U.S. National champions. 

................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Go To the Karaoke World Championship Information Page

Go To the Karaoke USA National Championship Information Page

Alex Peak & Barbara Robbins  (Photo Courtesy of www.KWC.fi) 

.........................................................................................................................................................

The hardest part of representing the U.S. in an international singing competition in Lahti, Finland; is remembering to open the elevator door. You see, in Finland, elevators have doors that open out like regular room doors in the U.S., thus you have to open and close them yourselves once the elevator has stopped on a floor; a small detail that the U.S. contestants struggled with during the three days of the Karaoke World Championship Final held October 23rd through 25th. Despite the engineering difficulties though, Wendell Payne, the president of the U.S. National KWC Championship organization, described this year’s event as fun,
exciting, and an inspiring tribute to humanity.

This year’s 2008 Karaoke
World Championship is
another tribute to the
permanency of karaoke,
and how this sport
transcends politics, war,
language, and even history. 
 Take ‘uncle Sam’ for instance. That’s what Beirut native, Avak
Babikian tells Americans
to call him. Babikian
attended KWC2008
representing his country,
but he also sang for his
recently deceased twin
brother who died in a
bombing.  Then there is
Sergey Shebanov, from
Moscow, who belted out
Sinatra’s “My Way” and
vivacious Elaine O’Halloran
from Ireland (Second Place)
who performed a soulful rendition of “Proud Mary.” It was watching these performers from the far corners of the globe get
 on stage and interpret American classics, that convinces Wendell Payne that what he is doing is well worth the time,
preparation, and 11 hour plane trip.

Above: The KWC 2008 Top 10 Male & Female Finalists, Below:KWC winner Michael Bates at IVK Music Recording Studio. (Photo courtesy KWC)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
On those three evenings of karaoke revelry, the closest anyone came to political intrigue was the Austrian contingent’s all night partying with the U.S.’s Alex Peak; plying him with Yeager bombs and beer until 4am could have been a bit of harmless sabotage, but all went well in the end. And in the end, it was Australia and France that took the KWC2008 title, but for Wendell, and everyone who attended from the U.S., it was the beginning of many new friendships across many borders and a chance to pursue a dream that many only think about.  The finalists representing 20 countries were definitely living their dream on this weekend in October. Michael Bates and Juliet Gonnet will be recording their singles in IVK Studios. The runners up are receiving thousands of dollars in cash and prizes, Alex and Barbie have already been booked on a national network morning show, and sponsors are calling for KWCUSA 2009. Maybe this whole karaoke competition thing is a little like being stuck in that elevator in Finland; you have to open your own doors, because they won’t open for you.

 
Read KaraokeTraveler's exclusive interviews with the U.S. National champions.