Thinking Aloud about Karaoke
The BBC's Thinking Allowed recently featured Xun Zhou and his upcoming book (co-authored with Francesco Tarocco) Karaoke. Along with a panel of experts at a Soho karaoke bar, Zhou discusses the cultural differences between the performance of Karaoke in Japan, China, South East Asia, North America, Britain, the rest of Europe and Brazil.
Usually thought of as the pastime of desperately bad singers and slurring drunks, karaoke has never enjoyed a particularly stellar image. Xun and Tarocco, however, reveal its surprisingly complex history and significant cultural impact around the world. Originating in postwar Japan, karaoke soon spread to Southeast Asia and the West. Karaoke traces how it became a wildly successful social phenomenon that constantly evolved to keep pace with changes in technology and culture. Drawing on extensive research and international travels, the authors chart the varied manifestations of karaoke, from karaoke taxis in Bangkok to nude karaoke in Toronto to the role of karaoke in prostitution. Extensive personal anecdotes reveal the dramatic range of social experiences made possible by karaoke and how the obsession with performance and song has touched politics, history, and pop culture throughout global society.