Back when CanCan Revolution was in heavy rotation, our lovely Kitty Fox decided that we should incorporate Karaoke into our acts – we would create a playlist of songs that members of the audience could choose from, and we would act as back up dancers while they butchered these tunes. After CCR stopped performing due to other responsibilities, the idea lost it’s urgency. Last week at the Slutcracker cast party, Sugar Dish and her minions performed a kickass version of  ZZ Top’s ‘Sharp Dressed Man’, and brought it all back to me full force. I still want to get this going, possibly with Kitty and Violet, maybe with a mish-mash of Sluts. I personally wanted us to have a specific act for each song, but if we have a selection of, say, the top 50 most sung Karaoke songs of all time, that’s a shitload of dances to learn! So right now I’m in the process of amassing a list of 15-20 hot songs that are also theatrical, and well known to Friday Night Hams everywhere, so I can create quick and dirty productions to each of them.

The list begins..

1. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart – One of the best karaoke love songs, this track was also one of the best loved songs of the 80s and was a former #1 Billboard hit. Also, this is hilarious… Literal Eclipse of the Heart
2. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – I Love Rock n Roll
3. Journey – Don’t Stop Believing
   
4. Meatloaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light
5. The Police- Roxanne
6. Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
   
7. The B52’s – Rock Lobster
   
8. Sir Mix-a-Lot – Baby Got Back
9. Big and Rich – Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy
10. Madonna – Like a Virgin
11. Styx – Mr. Roboto
12. Cyndi Lauper – She Bop
    
13. The Village People – YMCA
14. Depeche Mode – John The Revelator – I only picked this one because we already have props and a dance for it.. don’t know if they even offer it karaoke style.
15. The Weathergirls – It’s Raining Men

Ok… I think that’s about enough for now. I linked them all mostly as a reference for myself once I start creating choreography for each. The question is;  is it impractical to imagine having different choreography/props for each song, or should we really stick to canned dance moves and basic burlesque style outfit setup? And will people really be satisfied with only 15-20 songs to choose from, even if they are these fuckmazing songs? If we do go with the canned costume and dance scenario, should we include more songs? Will people be bored by that?

I also imagine people being shyer than usual to approach the stage, since it would be more of a spectacle, so I expect one of the dancers to be singing a few of the songs.

The idea of this is very exciting to me… I hope it comes to fruition.

Tags: aggressively uncool, Burlesque, new!, planning

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Performance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.