Ode to karaoke

I love karaoke. In fact, I really think I have an unhealthy appreciation for it, but since it makes me very happy, I tend not to notice that.
When I lived in Mississippi, my friends and I were karaoke "regulars," meaning we were at the karaoke place every Saturday night, and if they canceled it for some reason, we were completely devastated.
I can remember after a weekend of serious karaoke actually imagining my song list for the next weekend..on a Monday..
I can't completely describe why I love it so much. I do crave a little bit of attention, but I don't think that's it completely.
Perhaps this explains it. When I was little, my mom made me enter talent shows. I was horrible. It's not that I couldn't sing, but the songs that she and my voice teacher made me sing were completely wrong for my voice. But who would listen to a 7-year-old?
So, they continued to make me sing "Tomorrow" from Annie, "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music, and my personal humiliating favorite, "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead" from the Wizard of Oz..oh, the shame.
Now, while I'm not at all likely to receive a recording contract anytime soon, I think I do alright in the realm of bar karaoke, so maybe I'm redeeming myself for those earlier crimes against song.
Plus, I just think karaoke is a great social activity. You bring a group of friends to do karaoke, and you are cheaply entertained for an entire evening. Even if some people don't sing, they get to enjoy their friends making giant asses of themselves, and what could be better than that?
My favorite karaoke experiences in no particular order:
1. Fitz Moles singing "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes. This must be fueled by much alcohol to maximize the humor, but it's entirely worth it.
2. Fitz Moles and me singing "Making Love out of Nothing at all" by Air Supply. It's cheesy and lame, and we rock the house at it.
3. A guy named Adam singing "Bust a Move" by Young MC and a guy named Warren singing "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol. There's rapping and dancing by white guys with no rhythm involved. Classic.
4. Ellen and me singing "Love Shack." She prefers "Take it on the Run," by REO Speedwagon, but I like all the yelling in "Love Shack." Imagine that.
5. Valerie and Adam's rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia." It was awesome and funny, enough said.
6. The one time Simon and I actually pulled off "Tomorrow." It was the right combination of beer and late-night enthusiasm or something, but we did it really, really well once. That has not stopped us from continuing to try to sing it.
7. Betsy and I doing the damn Macarena while Fitz sang the song, which is the longest song in the history of the world.
I could go on and on and on. I have all of these awesome karaoke memories, some of which I've mentioned before and so I'm not mentioning here, but it is one activity that brings me pure, unadulterated joy, and there's not one thing wrong with that.