Redemption day

Thought for the day

"Don't come up unless you have been invited by the host or the performer. Everyone should have their own special moment in the spotlight. They waited your turn now you wait yours."

Tony's Karaoke Etiquette, page 1.

On Friday night we arrived in Goa pretty late and rather than mission anywhere we decided to go and check out the hotel bar. We arrived to discover that Fridays are Karaoke night at the Marriot. Still scarred from being tuned out of a rousing rendition of "You're just too good to be true" at the Colony Arms in Johannesburg (trust me when I say that this is a very bad sign as the other singers are not exactly brilliant - the Karaoke man just didn't go in for my "but it's the passion with which you sing and not the ability" argument) I adamantly refused to sing.

As the night progressed my resolve gradually weakened and I sang a duet with Chanda. It helped that we didn't know a soul in the place and were able to sing the songs from our seats at the bar. Boldened by the relatively good response to our duet I decided that it was time to redeem myself and sang "You're just too good to be true" on my own. Sucker for punishment some might say. I prefer to think that I've improved - the audience was enthusiastic and the Karaoke man let me sing the song through to the end.

Next to me was a man named Ravi. Ravi was patiently waiting for the Karaoke to start when we popped our heads into the bar before dinner and still there when we arrived threee hours later. Ravi DOMINATED the karaoke. I started chatting to him and he told me that he came to the Marriot every Friday for karaoke. He was very good but he was also incredibly serious about the whole thing. It was as if he was just waiting to be discovered by a talent scout - I guess the Marriot in Goa is a good a place as any to be discovered. Where most of us were just messing around he looked on disparagingly and when it was his turn (which was often) we all had to respectfully quieten down and listen to him. Now I haven't been anywhere else in Asia but from watching 'Lost in Translation' and speaking to other people who have I get the impression that people take their karaoke very seriously right across Asia. When Chanda was in Bangkok she saw Karaoke booths where you could go in and sing karaoke by yourself!

So this is for you, Ravi. If any of you are looking for a singer with a great voice in his late thirties who can sing an enormous range of songs from Whitney Houston's "I will always love you" to the latest Bollywood hits go to the Marriot on a Friday night and ask for Ravi.