Karaoke takes over Kampala pubs and bars

By Titus Kakembo

Apetite girl called Cathy confidently takes to the floor at Banda Beach Bar, Entebbe. She coos to James Blunt’s smash hit You’re Beautiful. Suddenly, she sings faster than the actual beat.
When she completes the song, her boyfriend applauds her, joined by the jubilant crowd, high on beer. Revellers tuck money into her bra. She is the hero of the moment.
Next is another lady, only introduced as Jovina. She immediately ‘strangulates’ her vocal chords to Tracy Chapman’s Revolution. At some point, Jovina sounds like a drowning horse or some body chocking in a bathtub. She is fighting with the song, it seems like she is in a torture chamber. When she reaches the climax, I expect the cops to intervene and save our dear sister. To my surprise, when she goes off the stage, I find myself clapping harder than the audience. A drunken man shouts “encore” to no avail. Indeed it is a good song, but badly sang. It is Karaoke night!

Various pubs and bars in Kampala have adopted karaoke, a Japanese form of entertainment as a stress-relief strategy for their patrons or revellers. After gulping down beers to wash down chicken thighs, fish fillet or goat ribs, revellers, some drunk, are ready to take their turn on the floor to croon popular songs.

Karaoke started in Japan in the city of Kobe in the 1970s. Karaoke comes from a Japanese word karapo (empty) and oke (orchestra). The words are joined to mean okesutura (empty orchestra).

Karaoke is when one sings to a recorded track with the vocals removed and the lyrics projected onto a screen.

Karaoke became popular because amateurs or potential musicians saw it as a chance to shine. “The issue was not skill, but one’s courage to performance,” says Mukasa, the proprietor of Sabrina’s Pub, which holds karaoke every Saturday night.

Mukasa, who started Karaoke at Sabrina’s Pub in 1996, says Japanese Karaoke is about doing it wrong. To qualify for a karaoke do, one has to be able to sing off-key. They should have the capacity to fail to read the sliding words on the screen. “It would be fun singing Natasha Bedingfield’s I Love You or Michael Jackson’s Thriller in Luganda.”

“With Karaoke, it is a chance for all to sing, be happy and release the high stress levels common with urbanites the world over,” he says.

Eden Park in Bwaise is always packed to capacity on Saturday nights, with revellers anxious to have their croaked voices heard. Drunk revellers balancing like spinning coins take their turns to try out mainly local songs, the most common ones being Iryn Namubiru’s Nkuwe Ki? Juliana Kanyomozi’s Nabikoowa and soukous hits from DR Congo. Ladies who wear revealing outfits are applauded more.

Tonny Lubega, the manager of Karaoke at Sabrina’s Pub, says the Japanese entertainment is a crowd-puller every Saturday night.
“A majority of the fans are Europeans. There is a fair crowd of the local community as well. The favourite tunes are Bryan Adams’ Sounds of 69, Michaels Bolton’s When you Love somebody and West Life’s Full Again.

The karaoke craze has now spread to pubs in Bweyogerere, Entebbe, Bwaise, Nateete and Mukono, which hold such nights mainly during holidays. Karaoke nights in these areas are highly publicised beforehand.

Simon Karuhanga was too anxious to belt out a popular song when he hit the stage at Eden Park on Monday night. “I rav you, you rav me we’vu got rav…” he set off. It sounded like he was singing Don William’s Runyankore version. When asked about his performance, he beamed with a smile of satisfaction. “On stage I felt like Don Williams,” he said.

I guess the thunderous claps, bear hugs and deafening cheers crowned by a swig of Uganda Waragi after his do, made him feel on top of the world. It is evident that many revellers love this form of entertainment because it is all-inclusive.

“I enjoy karaoke because it gives me small time moments of fame. It is a way of expressing myself,” said Joanita Akello, a karaoke fan. It is also free entertainment. “If I wanted professional stuff, CDs and video tapes are being hawked in the city at sh8,000.”

“While up there, singing the Karaoke, it feels like you are a professional singer,” said John Kakuru, a reveller of Banda Beach. “It does not matter if I sing it badly. All I want is attention for the five minutes I spend on stage.”
Banda Beach is a karaoke haven in Entebbe.

Revellers first take lots of beers to get rid of their stage fright. Everyone is urged to sing a popular song of their choice. There are no judges to criticise anyone’s performance. When a male reveller gets up to sing, revellers chorus “Gayi Bawe” (give it to them).

Thanks to modern equipment, karaoke is now done on TV monitors with words, video discs, CD graphics and compact discs. Due to the positive overwhelming response from revellers, pub owners are rushing to shop for karaoke equipment so as to retain their clients and even hook up more. Better still, karaoke shows are free. All one needs to do is to buy themselves a drink or goat ribs, roast chicken, fish and chips.

However, Mukasa decries the changing trends of Karaoke in Uganda. “Originally, karaoke time was time for fun. It was an opportunity for budding artistes to enjoy some fame on stage, free of charge. By then anybody could get up there and give his vocals a try. Today some pubs and bars are just offering a close resemblance of karaoke. They stage any live show and call it that. I have also seen revellers mime and sometimes sing perfectly like the original singer,” he says.