Heavy Metal Karaoke: Serious or Not?

Heavy Metal Karaoke, which will establish a two-month residency in Hollywood and Las Vegas beginning in January, is meant to be fun, with Ozzy Osbourne bassist Blasko and his buddies (like Prong's Tommy Victor) performing as the house band while aspiring vocalists can come sing their asses off to a live band, as opposed to a vocal track. It begs the question, though; will people come out and try to sing like they are the next Rob Halford or Bruce Dickinson?

"You have to ask yourself, if you think people in general take karaoke seriously," Blasko told Noisecreep. "We are not doing this to find a real singer. We're not trying to put a band together and this is the secret way we look for a singer. I hope people don't take it seriously! I want people to have fun, and that's the only goal."

The goal of the event, though, is to attract metal fans, since the set list will be so metal specific, featuring the classics by the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Pantera. Blasko said, "I don't know who it will appeal to; whoever it appeals to, I have never done this but my friends have, so if it attracts a karaoke crowd by being a real band, as opposed to backing track, great. But I don't see it appealing to people not into metal, since that is all that we'll play. We'll have a smaller demographic! People are not coming out to sing Judas Priest for no reason. People might have an agenda for wanting to do it."