Eastside Karaoke Competition
By Dan Golden
The cream of the city's crop of amateur singing talent met for the finals in a recent area competition at the Ambassador on N.E. Sandy Blvd. Sponsored by the owners of dueling Karaoke clubs The Galaxy and The Ambassador, 36 backing-track titans held sway in front of a capacity crowd of cheering fans. Earning points for vocal ability, song choice and style, every singer experienced the thrill of "performing" for an appreciative audience.
Held over a six-week period, the contest included well over 50 par-ticipants from each venue. East-side mainstays of Portland's bur-geoning Karaoke scene, both The Galaxy and The Ambassador feature sessions seven nights a week. Kick-off time is usually 9 p.m. and goes until closing. The Galaxy even offers "after hours" sets on the weekends!
Well-known hosts Patrick from The Galaxy and Mitch of The Am-bassador emceed the big event and kept the frantic pace of the evening from going out of control. An enthusiastic, overflow audi-ence coupled with the competitors, energy and spirit created a wild party atmosphere - the perfect environment for fun! Each of the finalists gave it their best shot and was rewarded with abundant ap-plause.
Conversation with participants revealed the reasons that Karaoke is such a popular pursuit. Local musician Lloyd Stockdale says he enjoys the sessions because it "gets me in touch with others who are as enthusiastic about music as I am." He says he can explore his vocal range and get his singing "fix" at the same time.
The eventual first place winner Rex Kerns, better known on the circuit as "Ar Jay" voiced similar sentiments. The former rapper enjoys "singing other people's songs, practicing in front of a crowd and of course, having fun!" As grand prize winner, Ar Jay scored a wad of cash and free re-cording time in a professional studio, and added to his growing reputation as an exciting new "rising star."
The event was a success from start to finish. Both The Galaxy and The Ambassador plan future contests and continue to support the local Karaoke scene.