Zero. Two. One. Three. One. Zero.
If you’re a Filipino, you would be familiar with a sequence like that, said in a robotic voice. This number sequence leads to a song when entered into a karaoke machine.
Karaoke is a big part of Filipino culture. A lot of our celebrations have music and singing. Machines can be rented for birthdays, gatherings, weddings, and even funerals. It is a big part of Filipino culture. A lot of our celebrations have music and singing. Machines can be rented for birthdays, gatherings, weddings, and even funerals.Small pop-ups are found in malls and centers. It’s accessible and a good activity to relieve stress and a great outlet for emotions. It can be a good icebreaker or team-building activity to bring people together. It’s really one of our go-to activities for fun.
FUN FACT: This first patented Karaoke Sing Along System was invented by a Filipino. It was patented in 1975 by Roberto del Rosario, then-president of Trebel Music Corporation. The first karaoke machine was actually invented in 1971 by Daisuke Inoue but his design was never patented.
Origin of Karaoke
Because it’s really a Japanese invention, the word Karaoke also came from Japan. It is derived from two words: ‘karappo’ and ‘okesutura’. Karappo means void or empty and Okesutura is the Japanese variation of ‘orchestra’. This is because karaoke music is usually just the music of the songs, empty of the parts by the singer.
FUN FACT: Though Inoue created the karaoke machine, he was not the one who coined the term. The word ‘karaoke’ was a phrase created by a Japanese entertaining group after an orchestra went on strike and a machine was used instead to play the music.
Singing in front of other people can be daunting. But the appeal of karaoke in the Philippines is mostly because we can just have fun with it. We don’t need to be good singers. We mostly don’t care about whatever possible humiliation we might encounter. And even when we’re being competitive, some machines rate based on how you follow the pace or how loud you sing. So, it really doesn’t matter if you’re accurately singing the song. Ultimately, karaoke gives us openings to share laughs and moments with each other and bring us closer. That’s the joy in it. So, don’t hesitate, and sing!
