Karaoke Most Deadly

Category : Blog Archive Dec 7th, 2008

The New York Times reports that a 23-year-old Malaysian man was killed by fellow karaoke bar regulars who felt he was hogging the microphone.

The most interesting as well as the most horrifying part of the story:

Karaoke rage is not unheard of in Asia. There have been several reported cases of singers being assaulted, shot or stabbed mid-performance, usually over how songs are sung.

Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” has reportedly generated so many outbursts of hostility that some bars in the Philippines now do not offer it on the karaoke menu anymore. In Thailand this year, a gunman shot eight people dead after tiring of their endless renditions of a John Denver tune [Country Roads].

This was enough to make me wonder, though. Is there something about “My Way” sung badly that causes violence?

Judge for yourself. A sampling from YouTube karaokiers:

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