Karaoke Party Brings Talent, Humor to Starlight Ballroom

A Karaoke and Dance Party was held at the Starlight Ballroom in Edgeworld Park on Thursday night.  The event was hosted by Austin, coati, as part of the SpinDizzy Fair.

Austin set an example by going first.  BunnyHugger, devilbunny, gasped and shrieked delight as soon as she heard his song selection: “Charlene (I’m Right Behind You)” by Stephen and the Colberts.    “This was a condition of our engagement!” the devilbunny exclaimed, although she did not explain this puzzling remark further.

Chitter, squirrel, had a more understandable reaction: “. . . a romantic ode to stalking, and you two are all gooey?  That’s messed up.”

BunnyHugger went next, and performed the classic hit from the Kinks, “Lola.”  She altered some of the lyrics from the original version, singing, “I’m not dumb but I thought it was odd / that she walked like a vixen and talked like a tod.”  After the song was over, she offered some thoughts on its meaning.  “Know why I like that song?  ‘Cause the Kinks are, you know, kind of about celebrating people who are unusual.  That’s why they have that name, I guess.  And they say that it’s a mixed up world except for Lola, meaning that Lola knows hirself better than many people who think they know better.”

Chitter responded, “Shut up and get off the stage,” which had the desired effect.

The next person to take the stage was Vanilla, skunk.  She prefaced her performance by saying, “the song is pretty much true; I’ve played vixen and mink and cat and wolf — in all my roleplay I’ve always found boys that tried to impress me — and the harder they tried, the worse it got. I like the ones that are relaxed and have fun, not the ones that try and impress.”  She then performed Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” sashaying defiantly around the stage.

The next performer was Beltrami, balloon dragon.  As she is known to be mute, many in the audience expressed surprise and confusion over her appearance on stage.  She delighted the crowd by performing “Typewriter” by Leroy Anderson.  A principle “instrument” used in the song is a manual typewriter, and Beltrami mimed the typing motions exactly along with the recording.  Reaction from the audience was highly favorable, with Roofus_Roo, fairy kangaroo, declaring it  “highly imaginative,” Dragoncat judging it “very nice work,” and many others applauding and cheering.

BunnyHugger, who was just finishing a large (for her) strawberry daiquiri, called out, “Encore!  4’33!  4’33!”  Chitter responded by poking her.

Everyone seemed reluctant to follow Beltrami’s performance, so Austin began cajoling people to go next.  Austin suggested that PatchO’Black, jellicle cat, should give a performance, but Patchy (as he is commonly known) expressed uncertainty about what he would sing.  BunnyHugger yelled, “Freebird!”, but he declined, saying he did not know it.

Austin then got up to do another song while people thought about their selections.  He chose “Waterloo Sunset,” by the Kinks, and kept looking at BunnyHugger as he sang.  At the end BunnyHugger  declared it “the perfect rock ballad!  The Platonic ideal” before rushing the stage and kissing Austin.

Patchy went next, explaining his choice: “The old-time feel of this fair reminds me of an old-time song.”  He launched into a sentimental tune, “On the Front Porch” by the Sherman Brothers, from the film Summer Magic. “All I want to do, when the day is through, is linger here on the front porch, with you,” he sang.  Vanilla declared, “that beats me,” and Patchy said, “I didn’t know this was a competition.”  Vanilla replied, “It’s not, but you win.”

Up next was Silvyr, spectrum dragon, performing “Midnight Star” by Weird Al Yankovic.  She mimed pushing a shopping cart and picking up a tabloid as she sang all the crazy headlines found within.  Her air guitar performance was particularly appreciated by Vanilla, who called out, “Go Silvyr!”

Adara, feline, was slated to go next, but while she was setting up, Vanilla took the stage and played the keyboard.  She did a rendition of “Paint It Black” in the style of Rick Wakeman, whom she described as “one of the best prog-rock greats at the keyboard.”

When Vanilla finished, Adara launched into a spirited rendition of “Mercy” by Duffy.  As she sang, the official end time of the event came, and Austin, to his evident regret, had to go to bed.  BunnyHugger accompanied him home to say goodnight, but the karaoke party kept going well into the night.

After-hours performances included Jaxen, fox, singing “Why Don’t You Do Right?” in the style of Jessica Rabbit; another keyboard performance by Vanilla; Ali, fox, singing “Kiss the Rain” by Billie Myers; and the Journey classic “Don’t Stop Believin'” performed by WhyteShadow, triple Andurusian, with help from the audience.

This is the final weekend for the SpinDizzy Fair, which will end with a closing ceremony at 8 p.m. on Sunday.