This week, the karaoke faithful will be gathering at Paramount’s Kings Island Adventure Park in Mason, Ohio just outside of Cincinnati- to welcome the regional championship winners that were voted best in contests all over the country in places like the Hula Hula Bar in Seattle, Washington and Big Mama’s Karaoke Café in Seymour, Tennessee.  As regional winners, that means these men and women first won a local contest, most likely at a bar or other venue near their home, then prevailed at their states’ championship event. Beginning on August 6 for three evenings, they will compete for the privilege of representing the U.S. at the granddaddy of all karaoke contests; The Karaoke World Championships. Hosted for the past several years by Finland, over 30 countries participate in the world contest, complete with all of the fanfare that an international talent competition requires, including flashy stage pyrotechnics, glamorous hosts, celebrity singers and of course heart-wrenching photo-captured moments of newly crowned champions complete with tears of shock and joy as they stand onstage with their  country’s flag draped across their bodies.   

Indeed, it seems that karaoke has finally come of age in America. Once swept to the side with disdain as a pastime of freaks and geeks, it has become the staple of many a neighborhood watering hole. Respectable writers have written about it, Megastars like, Eddie Vedder, Kate Moss, and Rihanna do it unapologetically, and any kid, tween, or teen with a Wii that you know is probably in the basement singing Pinks’ “So What” into Singstar or Karaoke Revolution right now.

Karaoke Growing Pains

If all the fanfare of the World Championship event doesn’t convince old fuddy duddies like Simon Cowell, the sheer growth of the USA organization should be conclusive. Payne says the number of participating venues has quadrupled and there is so much activity that the organization had to effectively add several state level competitions for the upcoming 2010 season. This means that instead of 50 possible state competitions, there will be 55, since several large states such as California, Florida, and Texas, had to be divided in order to manage the influx of contest activity.

Expansion hasn’t stopped with a ’55-state plan’ either. Local bars and restaurants clamored for a longer season, which in previous years began in January. The new 2010 season however, begins straight away on September 1^st, giving hosting venues an opportunity to conduct two competitions (one in the Fall and one in the Spring) leading up to the Regional and National championship in 2010. In fact, the first qualifying contest for the new season will be none other than the California State Fair, which will hold its competition starting on September 6th.

Good Ole American Swagger Needed

The addition of the California State Fair and heavy participation in the Northeast this season is a bell weather of sorts, indicating that the competition has hit some sort of critical mass and that there is a growing interest in securing U.S. bragging rights in the world championship. Mostly a Midwestern affair in its beginnings, the KWCUSA event is getting more geographically diverse, increasing the level of talent substantially. Limelight Studios, which hosted a big regional championship this year in Boston, claims “this year team USA is expected to wow … in part due to the strong Northeast showing.”  This boastful assessment could be just the beginning of the good ole American swagger needed to bring home the sleek gold medallion of the KWC.

 In the 5 years of the USA’s participation in the world championships, it has not brought home the gold, although Michael Moses Griffin placed second in 2007 in a close contest.  In addition to karaoke world dominance, Payne says that the U.S. organization is also looking to play host to the world championships in the future. Finland has the rights to host the event until 2010. A U.S. hosted Karaoke World Championship may just rank up there with the Idol season finale. Simon Cowell, Eat your heart out.