By Lin Shujuan (Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2007-12-10 10:11

You can go to Western bars in Beijing, or anywhere else in China, and have a good time, but it isn't the way most locals do it. China, like much of East Asia, loves karaoke. Spend enough time in Beijing and sooner or later you'll find yourself standing before a TV screen, beer and microphone in hand, with a crowd of karaoke enthusiasts insisting you sing to the Muzak version of a Beatles hit. Refuse and your Chinese host loses face; comply and you receive applause. Resistance is futile.

Karaoke was born with an ultimate aim to entertain and have fun, and appeals to millions of stressed-out corporate soldiers at a way to relax. But for first-timers, while holding a microphone and singing a song to the accompaniment of an "orchestra" may have them feeling like a star, it can also be a nerve-wracking experience.

Many people find that it becomes easier over time as the fear and anxiety of singing in public is replaced by the feeling of acceptance and appreciation by an attentive audience. In essence, karaoke is an art of practice.

Charlie Shifflett from Florida, USA, first tried karaoke about one year ago, soon after he arrived in Beijing. A copy editor for an English weekly in Beijing, Shifflett says he loves to sing. He admits to being anxious, despite having had plenty of experience singing and performing.

"I used to be in a rock band in high school, and, before that, I wore out my mom's ears on the way to school every morning," the young American says. "For some reason she let me just sing as loud as I wanted in the car, so I've had plenty of practice throughout my life."

Still, he was "a little nervous" on entering the KTV room with his new workmates.

There is the image concern. "Singing with colleagues is a lot different than singing in front of your mom," Shifflett says.

Making matters worse was the common problem of not being sufficiently familiar with any of the songs on rotation in the karaoke box. "I didn't know a lot of the pop songs," Shifflet says. "Plus, at the karaoke place, I ended up making some bad choices in songs. I couldn't hit the notes. When I sing them by myself or to my mom, it doesn't matter, but then when I try to sing them in front of other people, I realize that I sounded terrible."

Schiflett says his experience in a rock band didn't really help. In fact, it only made his KTV debut worse.

"When I play in front of people with a guitar, I am in control," says the former rock singer and player. "But in karaoke, I don't feel like I am in control, so I feel more nervous. You know, if you're playing guitar and singing, you control everything. But in a karaoke place, you can only sing. The music goes on and if you don't know the song as well as you thought then, well, you're in trouble. The worst feeling is when you just have to give up and tell someone to skip to the next song."

Shifflett is far from being alone in this respect. The stress induced by concerns over one's image can actually ruin the great fun that karaoke might otherwise offer.

Londoner David Green joined a karaoke party for the first time in Taiwan last year. Sitting rigidly among his newly acquainted colleagues, he had such a stressful time trying to "get the songs right" that for a while, he wished he had never accepted the invitation

At first, Green says he had thought that was mainly a matter of cultural difference. "In Western countries, if there is a singing party, people would stand up and move," Green says. "But here in China, people would just sit there and are much quieter. They tend to put more attention to the quality of voice and get the songs right."

In hindsight, Green says culture might be one of the reasons, but above all, he had difficulty losing his inhabitation in front of people from his office. With this realization, Green gave karaoke another go recently, soon after moving to Beijing. Mentally prepared to get into the atmosphere, and with a few bottles of "liquid courage," he ended up playing air guitar and reaping cheers, smiles and applause from the audience of his new work colleagues, even as he mangled his favorite songs. "I enjoyed it very much," Green says.

Looking back on his two experiences that ended in such great contrast, Green has come to a conclusion on which most karaoke veterans agree: "Quality wasn't the point, just getting up and doing it was. Once you drop all inhibition, preferably but not necessarily with the use of alcohol, and start belting out song after song, you will come to realize that karaoke is actually fun."

Shifflett adds: "Go with people who will laugh a lot and have fun. If you mess up and sound terrible, you don't want to be with people who will make fun of you, but those who will laugh along with you."

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