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Karaoke and Sinatra -- a deadly combination
The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling My Way' in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the My Way Killings.'The killings have produced urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings the natural byproduct of the country's culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song? Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks. And the country's many Sinatra lovers, like Mr. Gregorio here in this city in the southernmost Philippines, are practicing self-censorship out of perceived self-preservation. Karaoke-related killings are not limited to the Philippines. In the past two years alone, a Malaysian man was fatally stabbed for hogging the microphone at a bar and a Thai man killed eight of his neighbors in a rage after they sang John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads.' Karaoke-related assaults have also occurred in the United States, including at a Seattle bar where a woman punched a man for singing Coldplay's Yellow' after criticizing his version. Still, the odds of getting killed during karaoke may be higher in the Philippines, if only because of the ubiquity of the pastime....And Filipinos, who pride themselves on their singing, may have a lower tolerance for bad singers. Indeed, most of the My Way' killings have reportedly occurred after the singer sang out of tune, causing other patrons to laugh or jeer.... Posted by: Mike 2010-02-07 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=289864 |