* Australia's Dina Bit-David will be tough competition for the U.S.

* Ireland has a reputation for sending strong singers.

* Many countries will not release video of their champs to gain an edge.

Since we here in the U.S. regard ourselves as the music capital of the world, it isn’t too hard to figure out that our collective karaoke egos are suffering dearly. We have got to turn the tide somehow, we can’t let a bunch of singers from the outback kick our cosmopolitan butts forever can we? Wendell Payne, President of the Karaoke Championship USA organization says no. But he says its very difficult to gauge the level of competition from most of the competing countries because they generally refrain from exposing their national winners’ performances in the media before the championship event.

In an effort to get around the informal media blackout of the international talent to be showcased in Finland, KaraokeTraveler.com has scoured the Internet and raked through the tangled rumor mill to get a “less fuzzier” picture of what Rebecca and Brian have in store.

TEAM IRELAND : Adrian Kenny (Male) Jennifer Ward (Female)

Team Ireland’s website boasts the betting odds for its male and female karaoke champs to win the top prize in Finland. Adrian 6 to 1 and 8 to 1 for Jennifer .  Jennifer is a true amateur singer with hardly any singing experience, she is a stay at mom and reportedly clinched the Irish championship with her rendition of Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy.”  Adrian won singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” according to contest the website, which is sponsored by Paddypowerbingo.com ; that explains the oddsmaking.

There is no video of either winning performer on team Ireland’s site or any other site as far as we can tell; not even a stray YouTube video. This fact flies in the face of team Ireland’s almost palpable pride in its contestants that anyone can see from browsing its site or sharing a table with them in Finland, according to Wendell. This almost surely means that they do not want to let the cat out of the bag before Finland. Whether or not the cat can sing or not, we will just have to wait and see, but if last year is any clue, Ireland will not go down easy.

Elaine O’ Halloran was a favorite at the championships last year, known as a “pint sized stick of dynamite from Limerick” for her fiery performances, finished a close second to France for best female singer. Her famous rendition of Proud Mary is featured below. If Elaine is any clue, Ireland will remain in the hunt for first place.

Australia:  Dina Bit-David

The Aussies intend to protect its medal franchise and continue its three year steak with early female favorite, Dina Bit-David. Dina, an attorney by day, has a solid history as a performer including appearing as the headliner in an Australian Madonna show, and winning the 2001 Australian Winter Sun karaoke Contest.

Dina’s goal is nothing short of world recognition as she tells the regional newspaper in Sydney. A look at local media clips of her singing reveal a rich voice, reminiscent of Pat Benatar and a look that isn’t too far from a young Benatar either. She also makes it clear that she is a mature performer when in a television interview, she likens karaoke singing to her career as a lawyer, pointing out that both endeavors require a “performance,” whether its in the courtroom or in front of a karaoke audience. And she is keenly aware of just how to “communicate” with her audience. Dina’s crisp voice and strong, winning attitude, has made it clear; the Australians are the ones to beat this year again.

Team Lebanon: 

Don’t count Lebanon out, KaraokeTraveler has video that proves that Lebanon is indeed in the hunt for the championship. Unlike the United States, Lebanon has tasted KWC glory twice before; once in 2004 when Samantha Sayegh won the top female spot and in 2005, when Iyad Sfeir won top male. This year’s national male champion is rumored to be a top contender in Finland. All there exists out there to confirm the rumor is a grainy video of the Lebanese national championship, which only shows small bites of individual singers. The video does unmistakably demonstrate however, that Lebanon takes its karaoke very seriously. Semi-finalists arrive to the competition in an ultra-stretch white limo, and perform in both Arabic and non-Arabic /English categories.

What does all this mean for our ambassadors of karaoke, Rebecca and Brian? Suffice it to say that the competition will be tough in Finland, but as a relatively young event – it is in its 7^th year – the bar will be raised higher and higher each successive year as more serious talent converges on the competition each year. Rebecca and Scott need only focus on the fact that they bring a musical style to the championships that is the envy of the world, copied by many, mastered by just a few.  In the end however, everyone knows it all depends on just who wants it the most; let’s hope Rebecca and Scott are those people this year.

The Karaoke World Championships will take place in the city of Lahti, Finland. Opening ceremonies and the first round of competition will begin on Friday September 11^th, 8:00pm Finnish time and 1:00pm Eastern time.  The entire event will be broadcast live on the internet at the KWCUSA site and at www.karaokeuniverse.net . For more information about the championships, including how to enter for the 2010 event, visit KaraokeTraveler’s karaoke world championship information pages and the KWC and KWC-USA organizations’ site.

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