Just when I thought I saw everything there was to see on Japanese television (a paper airplane fight, a simulated earthquake gameshow, Japan's version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" just to name a few...) I've now stumbled across the 'karaoke show'.
It's not what your thinking, either. It's not a high budget competition, like American Idol. No no, it's just a low budget video camera, in a karaoke room, filming two Japanese people sing karaoke (actually, only one guy is singing, and his date is hesitantly dancing on the couch). Basically, it's like watching a home video of two people who went out for a night, and decided to broadcast it on national television (on the sports channel, oddly enough). Of course, i am mesmerized. This guy is actually quite good.
It amazes, though, that Japanese people, who can't speak a word of English, can waltz into a karaoke room, choose any number of English songs (the one on now is "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind, and Fire?!) and sing every word, not only in tune, but in near flawless English. It boggles the mind I tells ya. (He did make one mistake, though... he read "fantasy" as "fanta-sigh the first time through... heh heh heh, idiot.) I can remember the few times I've tried a Japanese song, and I can't get through the first three words.
Yeah, so, I'm going to go ahead and assume this is one of those 'you had to be here moments,' but believe me... it's strange.
Isn't a Fanta-sigh what you do after you realize you ordered crappy cola instead of something that actually tastes good?
Posted by: Andrew Davis at July 18, 2005 01:44 PMyes, that is true. fanta is surprisingly popular here, i do the fanta-sigh often (although orange isn't half bad).
Posted by: jed at July 18, 2005 02:10 PMI'm still shocked by the time I turned on the TV and there were people playing baseketball (without the psych-out / insult part, as far as I could tell, but it was in Japanese, so who knows...)
Posted by: Chris at July 18, 2005 02:45 PM