Livin' On A Prayer

How many teen idols does it take to karaoke Bon Jovi? About 6. Probably more if you want it to sound good.

Last night I attended something called "So You Wanna Be A Rock and Roll Star?" It was karaoke, except with a live band, and the songs were pretty much all rock 'n' roll. Top 40 rock 'n' roll. Mostly from the 80's, now that I think of it. I was a little tipsy, my memory may be hazy. Evidently famous people sometimes show up. (Define "famous," you say. Oh, I will.)

I was fortunate enough to have gone with another person of equal or greater sarcasm than myself, so we had a fine time. At one point, someone approached us and said, "I sense that some smack talking is going on over here." We said it was true, and he acknowledged we had good reason for it. A girl squatting on the stage and glaring at everyone wearing a low slung cowboy hat was attempting to growl Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell," which might have been effectively creepy if we could hear her.

Anyway, it was my friend's first visit also, and we'd heard that the likes of Gwen Stefani and Steve Perry had jumped onstage in the past. Tonight, we had Shane West. You know - from A Walk to Remember? Mandy Moore? And I was told the kid in the knit cap drawn halfway down his face was some guy from the O.C. (those O.C. kids are really a bit overexposed; just my opinion.). They had about 4 other "vocalists" on stage with them, belting out Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name." Badly, I may add.

Perhaps I would be able to keep track of these things if my subscription to Teen Beat hadn't expired sometime back in the 80's... oh well.

I've seen something like this once before, except it was the Throwing Muses and they were playing their own songs and letting rabid fans sing the vocals while Kristin Hersh stood to the side, playing guitar and occasionally feeding the singer a line or two. This one was almost as fun, but I'm biased.

Although, no famous people at the Throwing Muses karaoke! Next time, maybe we can get Ashton Kutcher or something to do "Hate My Way." Riiiiiiight.