American Karaoke Champs

To anyone in the Ventura area, feel free to come out on Saturday, March 24 from 9pm-1:30am at Golden China to help support me in the American Karaoke Champs competition.

I'll be performing one song, "At This Moment" by Billy Vera, and I'll have the opportunity before the song to talk about why I picked it and what it means to me.

The producers of this event will be filming the competition as footage for a show they're trying to sell to the networks. I'm assuming it'll run similar to American Idol, but with a different twist. I show up next Saturday at 8pm to go over the details. I won't know much more until then.

If you would like to go, here are the details:

Golden China Restaurant
760 S. Seaward Ave.
Ventura, CA 93001
(Click for a map)

American Karaoke Champs
Saturday, March 24 - 9pm-1:30am

NO CAMERAS OF ANY TYPE PERMITTED
$5.00 cover at the door

I look forward to seeing everyone there! Please come out and help cheer me on!

December 2006 Final Results

The results have been finalized, and I have officially been awarded third place for December 2006 in the Online Idols singing competition. This puts another $100 in my pocket for simply uploading a video of a song I sang at karaoke one night.

I figure I should give something back to those of you who helped put me into 3rd place, so if you're in the area, stop by and I'll buy you a coke. It'll have to be a small one. With over 1,100 views, I'll have to make sure I have enough for everyone.

I'm stepping out of the January 2007 competition, as I didn't want to ask everyone to continuously vote for me - month after month - so I'll take some time off. When I get another video uploaded, I'll let everyone know at that time. We'll make another run at 1st place and the $400 Grand Prize!!!

Online Idols

For those of you who know me, you know that I love to sing. Any chance I get. Seriously. If I could get away with singing in public restrooms without looking like a complete fool, I'd do it.

With the help of some friends who showed me the site, I've joined Online Idols. It's a website that hosts monthly competitions for anyone to showcase their talents (singing, juggling, dancing, short films, etc.). First prize is $400, Second prize is $200 and Third prize is $100. Not bad for uploading a video, and just sitting back to wait for viewers to vote.

That's where you come in! I need to you stop by OnlineIdols.com to vote for any of my videos. So far, my performance of "Give Me One Reason" is in the lead (out of my 3 videos) with 11 votes, so if you want to help push that one to the top, I'd appreciate it. You can click here to visit the On Stage section of the site, or you can click on the image to the right.

I currently have 3 videos online for voting purposes (Levon, At This Moment and Give Me One Reason), so chose your favorite, vote, and I'll post the results when they tally the votes at the end of January.

Contest Update

I competed in the 2006 Seabee Days Karaoke contest this past weekend, and I walked away with the 1st place prize.

During my qualifying round, I sang "At This Moment" by Billy Vera & The Beaters. Fortunately, the sound system was set up in a way that allowed me to head out into the crowd, which always helps during these competitions. The only problem with a song like that one is most people don't know it, so you really have to turn on the vocal talent to amaze the crowd. It's a song that fits my range, so I was pleased to be able to perform it.

After the qualifying round, they announced the finalists, and I was fortunate enough to be one of them. I made it to that point two years ago when I attempted this contest, but didn't make it into first, second or third place. Plus, a lot of the same singers were back this year, so I knew that I had my work cut out for me. Joey, the guy that I lost to during my performance two years ago, was performing again so beating him was tough.

During the finals, we were allowed to change our songs (which was not allowed two years ago), so I switched mine over to "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman. It's typically a crowd favorite, and I can give more soul than Taylor Hicks on his best day. The crowd joined me out on the grass for some dancing and fun, which allowed me to play up to the judges a bit. The dancer pictured to the right was my favorite, as she smiled and danced the entire time. I enjoy people who can get into it, without getting shy. It's one of the reasons I enjoy performing so much.

Perhaps one of my favorite things to try and do is forget the words, but continue on with the song so people don't realize what happened. I was fortunate enough to have that happen to me during my second song, but everyone I talked to didn't notice, so I was able to get away with it. So much for practicing...

After the finals were completed, we took a 10-minute break while they tallied the scores. The karaoke DJ called myself and Joey to the stage to sing a third song, so the crowd had someone to entertain them while they waited. Joey performed a song that seemed to go on forever. They had the scores done before he was even finished with his song, but they wanted me to sing again, so I performed "I'm Movin' On" by Rascal Flatts. It's a very touching song, that has some very personal attachments for me, so I enjoy introducing new people to it.

Once we were done, the hosts took the stage to announce the winners. The second and third place winners were called, and then they called me to the stage to receive the honor of being the 2006 Seabee Star, along with $300 in cash. It's one of the few times that I've won a cash prize for singing, and it feels great!

To everyone who supported me, thanks for your love! It was needed!

SeaBee Star Karaoke Contest

Anyone who's in the Port Hueneme, California area on Sunday, June 25th is welcome to see me compete in the SeaBee Star Karaoke Contest.

This is an annual contest held during the SeaBee Days at our local Naval Base in Port Hueneme.

I will be out there representing our radio station, AM 1520 KVTA, as the entertainment reporter.

Stop on by and give your support!

Karaoke Extravaganza

I am trying to get a list of karaoke locations from all over the US, including those in the Ventura County area.

If you know of a place, please send me the necessary info, including location, address, date and time.

Once I get a decent list together, I'll post it on here to let others know where they can karaoke when they are visiting other towns.

American Idol 2006

The new season of American Idol is gearing up for the debut in January 2006, and that means the audition process is happening now. Every year, the auditions come around this same time, and people always ask me if I'm going to audition. Of course, there is the part of me that pauses for two seconds while I debate putting myself through the hell that is auditioning, but then my commen sense takes over and I refuse.

I'm trying to use my new found job at the radio stations in Ventura for purposes beyond work. I've met someone who does professional demos, and I'm thinking about using him soon to create my own demo. It'd be 3 songs, and I'd have copies to send out to people when I'm looking to audition for things or book singing gigs. Perhaps I could start actually entertaining and earning money while doing it?!?

A group of co-workers is planning on going out for karaoke on Saturday evening, and if it happens, I'll post the location so anyone in the area can join us to partake in the fun. Otherwise, I'm staying FAR AWAY from anything Idol audition related.