Nathan McAmis hits the high notes that got him the prize money at Sharkee’s karaoke contest. By Sara StrongAbove the din of local gossip and alcohol-induced laughter, a heartfelt love song gets notice.Nathan McAmis’s version of the Journey hit, "Faithfully," cut through the smoke-filled barroom and earned him $300 in the Sharkee’s karaoke contest last Thursday.The night brought six finalists to the stage, after qualifying through a couple months of competition.McAmis said, "I figured to win, I should do something challenging."He chose the song because it has some difficult high notes, which he thought might win him points with judges.McAmis first signed up for the competition at the urging of some friends, but the idea of prize money was also tempting."It’s a fluke I’m even here," he said. "One of my students’ older brothers made me go up, and I’ve been here ever since."He’s like most who do karaoke — just for fun and because they like to sing and entertain.As someone who earned his way through college in a band, McAmis isn’t shy about being on stage, and was happy with the cash prize. … But that doesn’t mean he’s about to scrap his Ellsworth music teacher job to become a karaoke hustler."I secretly dislike karaoke," he said. "Yet it’s fun to sing different songs and different types of music. It’s kind of like a little test of imitation."Thursday’s judge, Sue Bruynes, said performances were judged on mainly three things: difficulty of the selection, how well the participant performed the selection, and stage presence. "I liked the fact that they all sang different types of music and it was a hard decision to choose who I thought was best," Bruynes said.She ultimately decided on McAmis because of the difficulty of his song, and the vocal strength it took to perform it."They were all great, though, and should be commended for getting up there and showing their stuff," she said.Second-place winner was Jim Berdahl, who took home $200, and third place winner was Mike Kinsinger who got $100.Other finalists were Steph Knips, April Gangestad and Dana Smeins.Berdahl performed "Rapper’s Delight," because it’s a challenge, he said. But he likes other types of music and performing, too. "I just enjoy singing," he said.It’s like singing with the radioGene Elrod from Dakota Entertainment provided DJ services for the night.He said, "Sharkee’s is a great place to do this. … You guys have a lot of awesome singers."Unfortunately, not everyone can be "awesome." Bartender Jesse Johnson works Thursdays, the standard karaoke night at Sharkee’s. He said he’s heard as many bad songs as good.Johnson said during a particularly painful rendition of a popular rock song, "This guy just doesn’t seem to get it. He sings about 10 songs a night."Patrons around the bar shake their heads or roll their eyes during the bad songs, but almost everybody gets a round of applause.If the karaoke participants aren’t particularly talented, Elrod does a little more singing of his own. He also sings more when people are shy about stepping up to the mike."The equivalent of karaoke is singing in your car," he said. "That’s kind of how I got started."Dakota Entertainment, Sioux Falls, does about seven shows a night, so its DJs have seen almost everything.Elrod’s list of least-favorites include: Meatloaf’s "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock’s "Picture," and The B-52’s "Love Shack."One of the absolute worst Elrod remembers was someone singing "Welcome to the Jungle." As if it wasn’t difficult enough to match Guns ‘N Roses’ front man Axel Rose, the stage presence of the singer was more than Elrod could tolerate."His running around and jumping on tables put the nail in the coffin. … But I don’t critique singers because I was there."He said Rock County’s karaoke crowd has gotten better over time."People have developed their talent. It’s not that they were horrible before, but they worked on it," he said.Karaoke contests draw out the good and bad singers, but they definitely draw a crowd. Most weeks, at least one of the area bars has a karaoke night.
