Karaoke In The Philippines - BBC Travel

The art of vocal mimicry is a national pastime in the Southeast Asian country.

In 2007, the rock band Journey got a new lease on life when they discovered Arnel Pineda, a talented Filipino singer with pipes made for power ballads.

Pineda’s countrymen were thrilled that Journey chose a cover band performer from the Philippines as their new lead singer. But it shouldn’t have been all that surprising, considering the art of vocal mimicry is a national pastime in the Southeast Asian country.

It is an understatement to say that Filipinos love karaoke. Almost every Philippine home has a karaoke machine or a Magic Sing microphone – a digital mic that turns your television into a karaoke machine. It’s almost always a feature at birthday and holiday parties. And scores of bars and restaurants offer karaoke or videoke (a more competitive version that scores singers and records their performances).

When it comes to karaoke bars in the Philippines, there’s a wide spectrum. There are wholesome “family KTV’s” (KTV standing for Karaoke Television) which cater to all ages, serve food and have private rooms where you can sing with your friends. Then there are regular karaoke bars – laid back places to have a few drinks before embarrassing yourself publicly — that have karaoke machines or a live band to back up your vocals. “Nightclubs” are basically strip clubs with karaoke, exotic dancing and back rooms that often feature more than just singing. At these clubs -- which range in levels of taste -- men often pay the women who work there to sit with them in the main room.

Karaoke’s popularity also extends past city centres. When Seoul-based writer (and friend of Travelwise) Hannah Bae travelled to a remote part of Sorsogon province to visit a friend’s family, she found the villages have a profound love for karaoke too. “[E]ven though the area was plagued by frequent brownouts, the family living in the [bamboo] hut had a karaoke machine, because it’s just that beloved in the Philippines,” Bae said. “My friend’s little nephews were obsessed with the Michael Jackson songs, which had videos of him dancing in the background of the karaoke selections.”

The world’s first karaoke machine, the Juke-8, was built by Japanese inventor and musician Daisuke Inoue in 1971. But it is Filipino inventor Roberto del Rosario who holds the machine’s patent. He developed the Karaoke Sing-Along System in 1975.