Teri West
Why do humans enjoy watching karaoke as much as we do?
The vocals are rarely flawless. The performances lack the lighting and other dramatic effects we typically crave in a live music experience. And there's always the risk of secondhand embarrassment when a singer has the unfortunate combination of lacking both strong vocals and the confidence to make up for it.
Yet here we are, drawn to karaoke, and what better proof than the crowds of people who flocked to the three karaoke events I visited on an eight-day Caribbean cruise.
Passengers of all ages crowded the rooms. And they were supportive of every performer and sang along.
This wasn't just a random afternoon at home -- this was how they were choosing to spend a portion of the vacation.
Each evening, the cruise offered mainstage performances with choreographed and stylized music performed by professionals, and yet karaoke was just as popular of a place to be.
I totally understood why. The energy in the room was warm, engaged and communal, a top-tier vibe for a karaoke room. The song selections were varied, and it was the most intergenerational set of performers I'd ever seen.
And karaoke offers a bonding opportunity that is an integral part of the cruise experience. I met some of my favorite performers by chance during a meal. They had gone up on stage the day prior as a group of five or so, with the singer on the mic editing the lyrics of "My Girl" to "my man" while the rest swayed as backup dancers.
I eagerly told them how much I enjoyed their performance, oddly star-struck.
In June, a 20-year-old went viral after performing Keith Sweat's sultry "Nobody" on a Carnival sailing. Sweat and the cruise guest, Tyler, have since met, and Sweat even brought Tyler on stage during a recent show, where they sang "Nobody" together.
My colleague, Rebecca Tobin, just wrote about the race to create ever bigger and more technologically advanced mainstage cruise shows. On the Icon of the Seas, Dorothy's bed flies during a production of "The Wizard of Oz." On the Norwegian Aqua, platforms move beneath the performers during "Revolution: A Celebration of Prince," eventually configuring into the shape of Prince's iconic symbol.
I adore a good production -- you can read my impression of my favorite on MSC World America -- but many a cruise guest seems just as happy with the spontaneous show when you strip away the production and give a random person a microphone to sing their favorite song.
There's something sweet about the simplicity of it.