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Karaoke Rage Will Only Get Worse

Assaults based on musical taste and performance come to a crescendo

By Victoria Floethe, Newser User

Posted Jan 31, 2009 7:56 PM CST

(Newser) – Karaoke is getting downright dangerous, Brian Rafferty writes in Slate. Last fall, a drunk in a Wisconsin bar pummeled a man for singing a heavy metal tune; a Seattle man's version of Coldplay's Yellow earned him a beating the year before. It's even worse in Bangkok, where a gunman allegedly killed eight neighbors for singing John Denver's Country Roads. So why the vicious crescendos?

The violence often comes down to song choice: "The attacker either hates the song to the point of physical rage or loves the song with such fervor that he or she will lash out in its defense," Rafferty writes. Such musical identification once waned after high school, but today, ringtones and MP3 tunes still "define our personalities." Add exhibitionism—thanks, American Idol—and booze to the mix, and karaoke attacks "are only going to increase in the coming years."

[Images (5)]

[Videos (1)]

[Quotes (2)]

Our own personal Jesus (Flickr)

The first karaoke machines were exported from Japan in the late '70s and early '80s. (Flickr)

Egos and musical fervor may incite karaoke brawls. (Flickr)

Karaoke Killed the Cat members perform at Crush Management, OK! Magazine and Hilfiger Denim Viva La Karaoke at Angels & Kings on March 3, 2008 in New York City. (Getty Images)

Karaoke contestant Talya sings during an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live on April 14, 2005 in New York City. (Getty Images)

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One man's angry karaoke performance of "Nothing Compares to You." (YouTube)

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But our musical preferences now define our personalities ...Each ringtone, each embedded MP3 player, each customized ZIP-file mix is an unsubtle broadcast to those around us, letting them know who we really are.
- Brian Rafferty, Slate

... there's no greater example of self-restraint than sitting in a sweltering Bangkok beer garden, watching a drunken Polish man deflower Starship's "We Built This City."

- Brian Rafferty, Slate

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Karaoke Rage Will Only Get Worse