Sing
Your Life at the Black Forest
Dinsmore's
Eye of the Tiger
BY
STEVEN SAWADA
Karaoke Mondays at the Black Forest have come a long
way from the days when my friends Jimbo and Casey from the CD Game
Exchange used to sing their hearts out there. Back then, Mike B. from
the Courtesy Clerks would stop in on occasion and belt out his best
Rick Astley impression. He made the ladies swoon as he strutted around
the room, pointing at every one of them singing, "Never gonna give
you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert
you!"
There was a core Monday night following of hip kids,
rockers and the occasional Black Forest regular. Rarely did I ever
notice anyone that was serious about ka-(roll the r)ra-o-kay. It's
not Carry-okay … OK?
So I had my reservations when I walked into the Black
Forest for the first week of their official karaoke competition. But
things change, and the old must make way for the new. Plus, a $1,000
grand prize is enough to make anybody pick up a beer bottle and start
practicing.
"There's $1,000 on the line!" exclaimed Shalena Rasmussen,
a 22- year-old student who has sung karaoke for five years and belted
out an excellent rendition of "Thank You" by Alanis Morissette.
Karaoke Mondays at the Black Forest are now a battleground
for aspiring American Idol wannabes. From 8:30 to 10 pm anyone
can sign up to sing or to "warm-up" before the competition. The contest
for the $1,000 grand prize starts every Monday at 10pm, and only the
first 20 contestants signed up can compete. The eight-week contest
culminates in a final competition where the highest scoring contestants
from each week go toe-to-toe.
Jared Ritzer, an independent but very loyal Black
Forest karaoke jockey, hosts the night. The KJ is the person in charge
of witty banter and supplying the karaoke versions of people's favorite
sing-a-longs. Ritzer's introductions and impromptu country solos during
contest intermissions are a welcome distraction from the sometimes
stomach-churning performances.
I wouldn't call anyone a horrible karaoke singer.
It is, as competitor number nine Matt Dinsmore said, an impressive
feat for someone to get up on stage and sing for an audience. "I say,
God love 'em," he said. "The fact that they got up there says something."
Dinsmore belted out a hyper-dramatic version of Billy
Idol's "White Wedding." Unshaven and dressed in his best 1977 Lou
Reed throwback leather jacket and driver's cap, Dinsmore won over
the audience as he stepped down from the stage and addressed the ladies,
"Hey little sister, who's the only one?" He kind of mumbled through
the verses, but really belted out in true Idol fashion, "It's a nice
day to START AGAIN!"
But I can't lie … there were a few unfavorable
performances that night. The same woman that flashed a couple guys
at the bar earlier in the evening sang a really piss-poor version
of a Guns 'n' Roses song.
On the other end of the spectrum, Edward Crockett
delivered an honest, heartfelt cover of Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife."
Crockett, a soft-spoken man who cites cross-stitching as one of his
hobbies, took the stage with the confidence and poise of a veteran
performer. "I'm getting more and more comfortable," he said. "I love
to sing."
When I asked him what he thought about bad karaoke
singers, he just scrunched up his face into a funny, prune-like expression.
The highlight of the night had to be architecture graduate student
Dan Safarik. I quickly picked Safarik out of the Black Forest crowd
because of his unusually cool fashion sense (you don't see too many
Eugeneans in slim-fitting corduroy suits and slicked-down hair). He
looked like a lost New York hipster amongst a sea of tired logger
and A&F collegiate types.
Safarik bounced around onstage like a manic, pseudoephedrine-ized
Elvis Presley. With his wide, psychotic eyes and sinister vocal inflection,
he delivered the hottest performance of the night.
Gone are the days when my buddy Casey used to literally
stop the crowd as he writhed and convulsed on the ground singing Elton
John's "Tiny Dancer." But then I must say this new crowd of competitors
is very entertaining and more diverse than ever. Everyone is welcome
to watch or sing on Mondays at the Black Forest, whether or not you're
competing in the karaoke contest.
2ND
ANNUAL Karaoke Competition. Mondays, 3/14 & Finals 3/21
8:30 pm warm ups, sign ups. 10 pm contest start.
