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The
Rant
July 1, 2003
When Sheilagh Guy-Murphy asked me to sing at
a 'celebrity' karaoke event I felt the pang.
It was unadulterated panic. Singing before hundreds
of people at the Bella Vista on a weeknight
(especially when I have to rise at 5am) is not
something I would ordinarily choose to do. However,
when a friend asks and it's for a good cause,
I can't say no. So, that's how I came to sing
My Way at the Newfoundland Karaoke Idol a few
weeks back. You may have seen a portion of it
on Canada Now recently. Apparently quite a few
of you did because we got lots of feedback and
thank God the comments were a little better
than, "Tell him to keep his 'day' job".
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Sheilagh Guy-Murphy,
Karl, and John Murphy
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Half of the evening's proceeds went to the
508th Air Cadet Squadron, a group that John
Murphy has kindly offered to help with fund
raising. He and Sheilagh do a lot of good work
like this and are a formidable duo when they
set their minds to something; so I'm sure the
cadets will do well out of this arrangement.
Judges for the event were local singers and
songwriters Jodie Richardson and Liz Pickard,
and Billy Sharpe of Billy and the Bruisers.
I immediately developed a huge soft spot for
Liz when she told me that as a high school student
she wanted to start and be president of the
Karl Wells Fan Club. How could I not go all
mushy hearing that?
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Billy Sharpe
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Jodie Richardson
and Liz Pickard
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My fellow celebrities were actors Bernie Stapleton
and Amy House (two sweethearts), and one of
my favorite columnists, Steve Bartlett, Editor
of the Express. We were the pre-show, the amuse
bouche or appetizer if you will. The real show
came after us. That's when the folks who were
going after the brass ring performed. I'll talk
more about them later but first let me get to
my group. The evening began with quick trips
to the bar for lubrication of the vocal chords.
You see, the club was a bit dry and smokey so
this was totally necessary. Then Sheilagh introduced
us to the judges and we sat back and watched
some video of the previous weeks contestants.
Well, actually, Steve spent the time rifling
through a huge binder containing thousands of
song titles. The poor chap still didn't have
a clue what he was going to sing. However, I
thought this was very gutsy given he was the
opening act! After a respectable audience had
gathered Shielagh, our compere for the evening,
brought on Steve.
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Steve Bartlett
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Steve had finally chosen. He tore into an
exuberant rendition of the Barry Manilow hit,
Copa Cabana. While his voice could never be
described as...well...'trained' and he did seem
to gloss over the lyrics more than once, he
more than made up for any deficit with an emotion-filled
interpretation of the lyrics and...ahemmm...some
unique stage movement, an interesting kind of
rocking back and forth. Actually, Steve reminded
me of the American Idol second place finalist,
Clay Aiken. Ruben Studdard had the best voice
but Clay sang with meaning, from the heart.
He lived the lyrics. Ruben, made exquisite sound,
but you got the impression the whole time he
was singing a beautiful number like, For All
We Know, his head was thinking something mundane
like, "Boy I'm awful hungry, I wonder when
they feed us again? I sure could down a hamburger
or two right now". Clay and Steve were
thinking about what they were singing.
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Bernie Stapleton
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Amy House
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Needless to say, Bernie and Amy were great.
They both came 'dressed the part'. In high boots
Bernie sang, These Boots Were made for Walkin'.
(It just occured to me...I did a Frank Sinatra
hit and Bernie did a Nancy Sinatra hit. Maybe
next time we can do a duet of Something Stupid.)
Bernie has great stage presence and I think
she could, as they say, recite names from the
phone book and get an ovation. Amy had everybody
in fits. She did her bit 'in character' as Marguerite
McGillicuddy, starting with some stand-up material.
I'd seen her do this character during a free
concert we did for Badger on CBC Radio last
Spring and was delighted to see her do Marguerite
again. Amy...er Marguerite finished by singing
the country tune, Mama He's Crazy, dedicated
to Marguerite's hubby, Percy. The crowd loved
it.
When my turn came I was caught by surprise.
I had been totally absorbed in trying to remember
the words for My Way which were going out of
my head faster than yesterday's forecast. I
tried to learn the lyrics because I'm more near-sighted
than Mr. Magoo and the Bella Vista television
was on the ceiling. When I heard my name I rushed
to the mike before I could give myself time
to back out. So, there I was in the spotlight
like Elvis Stoyko at centre-ice, facing three
judges behind the boards, waiting for my music
to start. An unexpected calm came over me as
soon as I heard the first few bars. I opened
my mouth and began to sing. Thankfully I sailed
through with, I think, a pretty good interpretation
of the Sinatra classic. I avoided going for
the singing equivalent of a quadruple spin,
you know, hitting a high c or stretching that
last note to infinity. It was a good call because
I got a standing ovation. It felt great!
While I enjoyed the warm feeling of satisfaction
after my moment of glory, I sat back and enjoyed
watching some of the Newfoundland Karaoke Idol
contestants. I was pleasantly surprised. Before
this I thought karaoke clubs featured a lot
of people who think they can sing but really
can't. Maybe that's partly true but most of
the folks I saw that night were pretty darn
impressive. These people can sing on key, they
have rehearsed their material, and they sing
from the heart. And in the case of one woman,
she even performed her own lyrics to the music
of Cabaret.
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Nfld. Karaoke Idol
Contestant
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Before this I was a karaoke virgin. I lost
my virginity in a good way and for a good cause.
I don't know whether I'll ever sing My Way again
at the Bella Vista but I may go see some karaoke
again because it's fun. The crowds are great
and even though you may have to sit through
a few bad singers, there'll be more than one
who can sing very, very well. And if you should
feel like taking a turn, pick a song you know
you can sing, a favorite. That's what I did,
and I hope if Ol' Blue Eyes was up there looking
down on me, he liked what he saw. How about
it Francis?
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