Q&A with a Karaoke Singer

Cyndi Capps

KAM:
Cyndi, thank you for taking part in this Q&A and for being the first karaoke singer profiled. How long have you been singing karaoke and what was one of your first memorable experiences?

Cyndi:
Thank you for letting me take part in this. This is the first time for me too. I'd say I've been singing as long as I can remember, but karaoke only the last seven years or so. One of my first memorable experiences was just a month or so ago...I went to karaoke at a new place, a private club that I had just joined, and there was a contest. Everyone else had a warm up song or two but since I had just gotten there a few minutes before they started the contest, I didn't. There were 15 of us in the contest and I was the very last one. When they called my name everyone just kinda looked puzzled, like who is she? Well I got up and sang and they were just shocked. The judges were scrambling and one of them told me, " Girl, we thought we knew what we were gonna do and now we have to start over and figure this out." We did a tie breaker song and I came in 2nd place winning $25.

The next day, the same judge came to me and said that after the contest a bunch of them sat around the campsite arguing about who really won. I had so many wonderful comments and now they ALL know my name.

Some of them have even purchased tickets to come see me at some of the other contests I will be in. It's so nice to have that kind of support.

KAM:
How many karaoke contests would you say you've entered and how well did you end up doing them?

Cyndi:
I've done maybe 30 contests in the last few years and the results vary. Many contests I have finished second by as little as a half a point or 1 point.

KAM:
So, we've heard that you are going to sing the National Anthem soon? Where will that be and how did you land that? Have you ever done this before at other events?

Cyndi:
Yes, I will be singing the National Anthem for the Patricksburg Pumpkin Festival on October 13, 2007. This is a very small town festival that supports our Community Center. As a member on the board of directors for the center, I organize an Easter Egg Hunt in the spring each year and help organize the Pumpkin Festival in the fall. Two years ago, the night before the festival, I received a phone call asking me if I would sing the National Anthem the next morning at 7 a.m. and I accepted. I guess everyone enjoyed it because they ask me to keep doing it each year.

I have sung the National Anthem only one other time for a public event. It was part of a free-stage concert at Hilltop Farms at Mansfield Parke (Parke County, IN) and sang first so I sang the National Anthem a capella as my first song.

KAM:
What advice would you recommend to other karaoke singers out there?

Cyndi:
Keep singing!!! There are so many very talented people out there who are not using their gifts.

KAM:
What would you say is the difference between someone in smaller towns such as yourself and other karaoke singers in big cities such as New York City or Los Angeles?

Cyndi:
I would think that in the larger cities there are more bars and clubs to sing in, but in the country and smaller towns we have all the local festivals.

KAM:
If there was no karaoke, what would you be doing instead of it?

Cyndi:
I would still be busy singing.

KAM:
What other things do you have coming up in the future? Not only the dates and events you have set, but also do you have any goals of singing somewhere in particular?

Cyndi:
I will be visiting a few nursing homes with my uncle Melvin and have some chances to sing with him, my mother, and my 9 year old daughter as well.

Some of the other places I will be:
Sept. 28th @ 7pm - Dugger Coal Festival- Guest singer
Sept. 29th @ 5:30pm - Stinesville Stone Quarry Festival- Stone Quarry Idol Contest
Oct. 7th @ 2pm - Boot City Opry- contest
Oct. 13th @ 7am - Patricksburg Pumpkin Festival National Anthem
Oct. 13th @ 3:30pm - Patricksburg Pumpkin Festival Karaoke
Oct. 21st @ 1pm - Little Nashville Opry - Talent Contest

I will be part of a Christmas contest taking place at the Boot City Opry in Terre Haute, in December, and many other events and contests already in the works for 2008-- including a trip to New York as a guest singer for another contest!

KAM:
Do you have any other karaoke thoughts or wisdom to add before we let you go?

Cyndi:
Just keep singing, smiling, and dreaming!!!

Want to be the next karaoke singer featured with a Q&A?
E-mail jason@karaokeaddiction.com