Show producers have culled through thousands of online video submissions and selected eight semi-finalists. Among them is Donnie Denny Hertford, North Carolina. A plumber by trade, Donnie did not submit a video to the Oprah show, but his family did. The next thing he knows, film crews are taping him as he sung at his church; South Mills Church of Christ. If that wasn’t a clue that something was going on, someone handed him a cell phone with Oprah on the other end telling him that he was a semi-finalist.

Halfway across the country in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, college student Grace Weber did submit her video and the Oprah show noticed. but unlike the plumber Grace is a fairly accomplished musician. She is winner of the Thomas Ford Young Arts prize which got her a performance at the prestigious Kennedy Center, her indie band is a regular at top New York City clubs such as The Bitter End and The Groove, and she has released her own album although it appears no professional music label has picked it up yet.

There is some consternation as evidenced by the comment section on Oprah’s website – that some of the finalists are not “amateurs,” as evidenced by their extensive singing experience, awards, or past jobs; as is the case with Grace Weber and Anna Harrington, who was a paid vocalist at a Disney resort. Notwithstanding the sour grapes of contest entrants who believe that they should have a semifinalist spot, these sentiments do pose an interesting question about how the karaoke community defines itself.

Karaoke bars are filled with people who sing for fun but put no more effort into becoming a professional singer than most us would at winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a true hobby to many. Perhaps it is this attitude that seems to separate the idea of the karaoke hobbyist from the singer who wants to use karaoke as a platform to start a professional career. It is the difference between Donnie and Grace. But in the end, they are both regular people singing because they love it, and that is what Oprah preaches on a daily basis; do what you love.

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