Karaoke Idols

A man in an oversized trench coat was quietly reading a book in one of the booths Monday, Jan. 7 at The Bluebird Nightclub. It was 20 minutes before the start of karaoke night and the bar was nearly empty, but soon the bar was buzzing with would-be superstars. The man in the trench coat marked the page he was reading with a ticket stub from an American Idol tryout and made his way to the stage.\nFox brought karaoke singers from across the country into our living rooms with the 7th season of "American Idol" Jan. 8, but the man in the trench coat, Bloomington resident John Hanson, wasn't watching.\nHanson said he drove to Philadelphia, Penn., to try out for this season's show. He thought it would be "the easiest way to get a record deal."\nHe didn't make it onto the show and said the judges were looking for a certain type of character when he tried out. He said many good singers who auditioned with him didn't make the cut either.\n"They were looking for freaks; anybody with a costume got in," Hanson said.\nHanson enjoys performing, and he doesn't need a costume or a ticket to get behind the microphone at the Bluebird.\nKaraoke night at the Bluebird is not just an event; every Monday night it's a different world where ordinary citizens can escape the confines of their day jobs and the real world if only for one song. Some sing to remember, some sing to forget.\n"This is my one-night-a-week affair from real life," said emcee Jason Groth.\nOne never knows what to expect in karaoke world. On that particular Monday, roughly 50 people were in the audience.\nBut Spynn, a 27-year-old Bloomington resident and karaoke-night regular who refused to divulge her real name, said she has sung to an at-capacity Bluebird audience at least once. Spynn said you have to be tough and outgoing to get on stage and "do your thing."\n"It's a real stage, a real sound system," Spynn said. "You can be a real star right here at the Bluebird."\nIt's clear Spynn has no trouble finding her toughness. Besides singing every Monday, Spynn is also a member of a hard-hitting, all-female Bloomington roller-derby team. \nSpynn has never been shy, either, and realized she wanted to be a singer when her parents took her to Union Station in Indianapolis to make a karaoke tape. She sang Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All" on the tape.\nTwenty years later at the Bluebird, Spynn was singing Dolly Parton's "Jolene." She hit every note, and when the song was over, she spun around in place, a move she used to punctuate all her performances that night. Spynn likes to perform '80s country songs, although she won't sing any new country or pop. \nShe occasionally will perform Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" to prevent other karaoke singers from performing less than perfect renditions.\n"Somebody's going to sing it, and I rather it not get butchered," Spynn said.\nSpynn may be able to prevent songs from being butchered at the Bluebird, but she can't stop Fox from airing some of America's worst singers on national television at the beginning of each season of "American Idol." \nHanson refuses to watch the singers who beat him out for this season of "American Idol," but he is content with his gig as a Monday-night superstar at the Bluebird. \nSinging on stage is like sharing an intimate experiences with others through song for Hanson.\n"Maybe they can take (those experiences) home with them and take them to heart later," Hanson said. "That's what it's all about: the magical art of music. I don't know any better way to put than that, man"