Oprah hosted her own successful karaoke singing contest last November called “Oprah’s Karaoke Challenge,” and now she has received her own karaoke challenge; Wendell Payne, President of the Karaoke World Championship Organization in the U.S., has issued a public challenge to Oprah to include the winners of the 2010 KWCUSA singing competition as competitors in her next karaoke challenge.

Every year local, regional, and state karaoke competitions take place across the country that culminates in the crowning of one male and female karaoke champion who win all expense paid trips to compete in the Karaoke World Championship singing competition; a two day extravaganza held in Finland last year.

Payne explains in the press release that “We are very happy that [Oprah’s show] portrayed karaoke in a positive way and provided the opportunity to karaoke singers. However, we felt that a few weeks of qualification was not comparable to our ten months of nationwide competition.”

While the Oprah show has not officially announced any sort of encore show, they did refer to the Karaoke Challenge as the show’s “first,” and if the large viewer participation is any indication (2.5 million viewers voted in the challenge); there is bound to be another competition next year.

Ironically, Oprah’s Karaoke challenge grand prize winner; Abraham McDonald (pictured below) was the 2009 KaraokeFest winner, an established west coast regional karaoke contest.  This fact supports Payne’s argument that the KWC’s progressive system of promoting singers from a local to regional to state to a national contest is the most suitable way to vet amateur talent, as opposed to video entries alone.

Contest format aside, this challenge to Oprah for 2010 is surely a harbinger for the great things that 2010 has in store for the world of karaoke.  Oprah has set the precedent by putting karaoke on daytime television and making stars of everyday karaoke singers, not to mention the big prize money that she put up for the competition. Oprah’s enduring theme has always been about striving to ‘live your truth’ and achieving your dreams in the process. Wendell Payne for one, hopes Oprah will  put her money where her mouth is.   

 

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