A little night of Vina-oke

There seems to be a calling for Filipinos, be they tone-deaf or perfectly-pitched, to leave the confines of their humdrum lives and belt out their voices along with their wallets at the nearest karaoke joint. Perhaps such a preoccupation with our own technological invention is a result of our innate whimsical desire delusion to live out the lives of our favorite professional singers – with matching voice, groomed looks, hand-head twitching movement, and high-tech microphone. To verify such a supposition and to engage in some personal belting of the vocal kind, I, together with a chorus of friends, spent a little money and a long night of music in IO Family KTV in Jupiter St. Makati, with internationally known Filipina songstress Vina Morales.

With a thick order slip of cocktails and chicharon, and the amusing concert-loud vocal stylings of folks in the adjacent booth, Vina relates her professional views on this amateur sport. "I like karaoke if it’s with my friends. At least, I can just sing, be myself, and just have fun," Vina begins. "What I enjoy most is having fun with friends. If your friend doesn’t know how to sing you can either teach them or just make fun of the person," she jokingly adds. She continues with a more serious comparative analysis of professional chanting versus subtitle singing. "Of course, it’s very different. You get paid when you sing on TV and in concerts. Karaoke singing is good practice though. At least in karaoke singing, no one will judge you if you’re out of tune or make piyok," she says with a smile. Indeed, like the rest of Karaoke Philippines, she truly feels free from the pressures of work as she points-clicks-and-sings away her favorite melodies. She explains, "Usually I always sing the Carpenters and other old songs because I can’t really sing those songs for work. I also like singing OPM duets like Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang. So, I sing the songs I really want to sing because in concerts there’s a set repertoire already made by the musical manager which consist of normally new songs."

As the cocktails swing from one alcohol base to the next and the empty chicharon plates get shelved for more hefty servings of crispy pata, Vina continues by giving the lowdown on high-caliber karaoke singing.  With a resumé of TV show guestings, local and international concerts, and several records, plus the fact that her songs and accompanying picture just happen to be in the digital jukebox selection, Vina is more than qualified to give her 10 centavos on such an activity. "Sometimes other people ask me repeatedly if they’re singing correctly," she says. She begins divulging her karaoke singing secrets by declaring that there is really no secret on the subject. "I don’t prepare when its karaoke unlike in concerts where I normally take pei pa koa to loosen the vocal chords, " she says. "But I always hold the microphone on the right hand, and the distance of it from the mouth depends on the volume of the voice," she adds.

Although one doesn’t have to be a professional singer to follow such humming habits, she admits that triple-A rated singing, whether in a concert, recording booth, or a karaoke room, must be in the musical make-up of the person. "Singing comes naturally although you can also learn it. However, it’s really different when it’s inborn. Somebody who’s tone deaf cannot have perfect pitch later on. It’s pretty much like dancing," she analyzes. In terms of song selection, she prescribes that people should just make use not only of their voice but their karaoke remote control as well. "In karaoke, there’s high pitch and low pitch so just adjust the song to your voice," she points out.

With such lessons given in our recreational booth-turned-karaoke-finishing school, the pro gives some suggestions for this industry of amateur singers, composed of eager establishment owners, more eager clients, and everybody in between. "It would be nice if they would add wireless microphones so you can move around, as well as provide bigger screens." In an almost concert-like fashion, she ends with a brief message for the karaoke-istas all over this song-struck country. "Just keep on singing and enjoy the company of your friends," she commands, and waves.

With the timely arrival of even more alcohol and pork-based servings, Vina and I, together with our pack of song-belters, finally address the real agenda at hand, and start throwing our big lusty voices into the small black microphones, reading the lyrics of the screen while simultaneously providing commentary on the lack of video production values. As the pairs and trios of singers get permuted among each other several Rick Astley, Frank Sinatra, and Broadway songs later, I eventually found my once bathroom-confined voice pitted against US concert-bound Vina’s, for the OPM duet Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang. When our voices actually overlapped during the refrain, I felt inappropriately but magically inserted into a Vina Morales CD, or placed on-stage in one of her concerts. We ended up singing the song three times during the night, and from that experience alone, a certain Filipino karaoke desire-delusion truly manifested itself in my corner of the room. More than verifying such a supposition, I actually lived the dream, even for just a fleeting karaoke moment.