Billie Lusk values her time behind the mic. She is unafraid to belt out Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” on karaoke nights at The Draft Sports Grill in Littleton – but she also loves singing with sons Connor and Jay on her ex-husband’s karaoke machine.
“We go out a lot with friends, and mostly we embarrass ourselves, but it’s always good for laughs,” said Lusk, 29, of Morrison, who has parlayed a musical lark into outright competition.
Long considered little more than a bar diversion for extroverts and the overserved, karaoke has mushroomed into a global industry worth a reported $20 billion to $25 billion a year, according to various reports.
But the latest development is moving the phenomenon out of taverns and into homes. New technology lets fans croon in their living rooms, presumably to the applause of friends and family and the wonderment of the dog.
Karaoke has come to television.
The impresario behind all these homegrown crooners: Comcast. The company’s On Demand cable offerings, which it says were accessed 1.4 billion times nationwide in 2005, range from movies to cooking classes, dating services to guitar lessons.
Now digital subscribers can browse more than 300 karaoke songs on Comcast’s latest addition. The service was accessed more than 1.8 million times in its introductory month and 3 million times in December, the month it debuted in the Denver area, according to Comcast.
“We knew it would catch on – you just have to understand the makeup of people,” said Tom Turner, general manager of Sound Choice, which creates and licenses the music for Comcast. “Music is one of people’s favorite things, no matter how old you are. You don’t have to be Tiger Woods to play golf, and you don’t have to be Pavarotti to be singing out loud.”
The cable and satellite TV business is increasingly competitive, and providers have found On Demand is a service that lets them stand out.
“Our goal is to continue to add unique and interactive content that allows our customers to enjoy many different types of lifestyle options from their home,” said Comcast spokeswoman Cindy Parsons.
Adds Turner: “Interactive TV is the wave of the future for the cable folks. The industry has to keep advancing itself, offering more to keep its customer base, and that’s what this karaoke stuff is all about.”
In Japan, where karaoke was born in 1971, there are multiple channels devoted solely to the pastime. But this foray into America’s small screens is a first at this level of market penetration.
“In the past, a karaoke system cost you a few hundred bucks,” said Scott Shirai of Westminster. “But now with On Demand, you switch on your TV and cable box and it’s right there.”
Shirai, author of the self-published “Karaoke Singalong Guide to Fun and Confidence,” is a karaoke nut. When he lived in Honolulu, he slaked local thirst for karaoke by teaching classes for credit at the University of Hawaii. He discovered Comcast’s karaoke while surfing the On Demand system. His stepson Russell Jerin, 32, takes On Demand guitar lessons, and Shirai was excited to find something more up his alley.
“Those of us who have been around for a while following the karaoke industry knew that this was just a matter of time,” said Shirai. “Karaoke on demand was available in Singapore six or seven years ago, and it was only a matter of time as to when it would catch on over here – not if it would catch on.”
America being a nation of competitors, it was also just a matter of time before karaoke morphed into a sport with cash prizes.
General Mills’ new YogurtBurst Cheerios are backed by a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign centered on karaoke, or Cheerioke.
“We know that when people enjoy something good, they get really excited about it and they break into song,” said Bruce von Stein, marketing manager for General Mills.
Whether people are actually warbling over their breakfast cereal is debatable, but von Stein says karaoke’s expansion into the home “definitely speaks to the popularity of karaoke.”
Just ask Billie Lusk.
The Morrison resident was the driving force behind Group 10 in General Mill’s Cheerioke contest. Lusk dragged her sisters Sherri Herron and Jamie Johnson to compete in the promotion while shopping in Castle Rock two months ago. The three (and their version of the ’60s hit “I’m Into Something Good”) are up for a $10,000 prize.
The most obvious advantage of singing in the comfort of your home is privacy. While karaoke makes some people cringe, others shy from local nights at Ogden Street South or Armida’s because they fear public performance – and failure.
“My wife will only sing in the house,” Shirai said.
While Shirai lauds the arrival of On Demand karaoke, he concedes its failings. In his karaoke heyday, he had a library of more than 1,500 CDGs – CD/DVDs with music, lyrics and accompanying visuals. Comcast’s 300 songs isn’t so impressive, especially when you can’t change the keys of songs that are beyond a singer’s range.
Sound Choice’s Turner said his company plans to expand its On Demand catalog to 2,000 songs, regularly refreshing it. That’s not enough for Tony DeFazio, a Southern Californian whose fascination with karaoke reflects the industry.
What started as a $50-a-week hosting gig for DeFazio four years ago has grown into a $100,000 annual business. His Star Light Karaoke library boasts more than 70,000 songs in English, French and Spanish; his eight subcontractors blanket Southern California’s clubs and bars.
Given his expertise, he doesn’t see the On Demand service harming his business, let alone succeeding on a noticeable level.
“That might work in Montana, but not in L.A.,” said DeFazio, who in October spearheaded a Guinness record for longest karaoke group session. (The old record was 100 hours; his group hit 108.)
The home-entertainment market has thrived in the past decade with the sales of karaoke machines, but this could be a potent second wave. Sherri Herron bought four karaoke machines in the past six years for her children Destiny, 9; Jordan, 7; and Ehlanna, 2.
“The kids just destroy them,” Herron said of the machines. “This (On Demand karaoke) sounds like something we’ll be using quite often in my house.”
Herron likes to encourage her girls’ singing. Giving a kid a karaoke machine is a simpler version of formal singing lessons. Adults know karaoke is about good times, and kids can learn that early.
“It’s just fun to get out there and have no worries, to make a fool out of yourself,” Johnson said. “The only downside (is) that you feel like an idiot the next morning – and this might actually change that, if you’re in your own home.”
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
