Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (Aug 01/05) - In the Philippines, karaoke is a national obsession.

And the Filipino community in Hay River has brought that passion here.

Anna Crosman began singing karaoke 25 years ago in her homeland.

"It's basically the favourite pastime in the Philippines," she says, noting many nightclubs and even some restaurants feature karaoke.

Of the approximately 50 Filipinos in Hay River, she knows of at least five families who have karaoke machines in their homes.

Crosman, who has lived in Hay River for 11 years, says, when she visits her Filipino friends, they start singing. "It never fails, we always do karaoke."

One family even has a system with cordless microphones.

Crosman, 35, says she loves singing karaoke and inviting visitors to her home to sing along. "Once you get started, you have no idea what they can do."

Many people are shy about singing at first, but will try it once someone else does, she notes.

Karaoke is such a big part of Crosman's life that she and her husband had karaoke at their wedding reception.

Another karaoke enthusiast is Santiago Lau-a, who says it was popular in the Philippines when he moved to Canada in 1973.

"When I came here, it was unheard of," he says, noting karaoke only became popular in Canada in the 1980s.

Lau-a, 59, bought his first karaoke machine in 1984."It's kind of a stress reliever," he says.

"And I enjoy entertaining."

As for why karaoke is so popular among Filipinos, Lau-a says, "Filipinos like to sing. We like to have a good time."

Popular product

Brian Lefebvre, the manager of The Source By Circuit City in Hay River, says karaoke machines for homes are very popular.

It was an especially big seller this past Christmas, he notes. "It was one of our most popular items."

Lefebvre says karaoke machines begin at about $100 for a microphone system with computer-generated music.

A CD or DVD-based machine, which offers better music, costs between $150-$500.

Both systems display the words to songs, most often on a TV screen.

Crosman has several karaoke systems in her home. In all, she estimates she has the music and words for about 9,000 songs.