One Hour of Glory

I stood while singing. I don't usually sit down for the first song. K and Terri were seated. They thumbed through the songbook, looking for the English songs. This usually happens during the first song. Nobody watches you. I knew this, so I just went for it.

"YOUUU CAN DANNNNCE....YOUUUU CAN DANNCEE..."

This wasn't the first time I've sung ABBA to open a night of karaoke. This WAS the first time I sang ABBA in Japan. Or any song.

It was a moment years in the making. After singing song after song in many Norebang in LA Koreatown, and singing in my aunt's living room on the Magic Mic, this is what had eluded me; Karaoke in its home country.

"HAVVVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIIFFFEEE...OOOOOH..."

The Karaoke experience is embraced by some, abhorred by others. I don't know any in the latter category, so let's not worry about them. I love Karaoke. I love the cheesiness. The way your voice sounds coming out of the speakers. The more reverb the better. I love watching other people sing, they way they just go for the gold. And what you can't sing, you make up for in improved rap and interpretive dance.

We only had one hour. It was our last night in Tokyo, and we were a tired bunch. We broke off into two groups; Reub and Susie took a trek to Kyoto and Osaka via Shinkansen, the rest of us on a day trip to Hakone. I had agreed to postpone Karaoke on my birthday, which was two days earlier. Time was running out.

"It's not gonna happen," I thought. We're gonna get in late, everyone's gonna be tired. Nobody will be up for singing. As we walked back to our hostel, I turned to Karen. "One hour, that's ALL I need."

"OK," She replied. I didn't know if she was really up for Karaoke, or if she thought I'd be a sulking mess for the rest of the trip if we didn't do it. The two of us, with Terri, stepped into a Karaoke place a couple of blocks from our hostel. I didn't know any Japanese, the people working there knew no English, but does it really matter with Karaoke?


*The view from our room*

We rode up an elevator the the seventh floor. This Karaoke building had nine floors total. Japanese Karaoke just kills anything in the US. The room could fit the three of us comfortably. And we only had one hour.

No time for trying new songs. I went through my usual suspects. ABBA. Done. Guns n' Roses. Check. Elton John's Your Song? Sung to Karen without needing to look at the words? Yes, that too.

And that was it. My one hour of glory, done. It, like the rest of our time in Tokyo, went by way too quickly.

I'll be back here. There's a lot more of ABBA to go through.