You may 남자 밤 일자리 wonder, awella|what do I sing in Korean karaoke?a So, here are a few ideas for popular Korean songs for the noraebang. Now, letas talk about etiquette and whatas expected from Korean karaoke.
If youare visiting or living in Korea, youare bound to end up at noraebang, or Korean-style karaoke rooms, at some point. I was recently in Korea for the first time, and in that time, I have become addicted to Korean-style karaoke, or noraebang (noraebang).
While the number of hoesiks and noraebangs has decreased over the last couple years, they are certainly still part of Korean culture and entertainment. In addition to being popular in Seoul (especially in the more congested areas and near universities, such as Hongdae and Sinchon), youall find that noraebang has been spreading its popularity all over the world. The noraebang is everywhere in Korea, literally found in almost every single street of major cities.
When the noraebang, or singing rooms, first appeared in the 90s, the noraebang were intended as healthy places to entertain anyone, from children to elderly people. Hugely popular with Koreans of all ages, a noraebang is an integral part of Korean life. To me, karaoke is about having a good time with friends, but here, it is taken a bit more seriously, and as such, lately, there are Karaoke rooms dedicated to the solo and duo noraebang practice popping up in the bigger cities.
Solo karaoke involves going either a) to a venue designed especially for people who are going noraebang alone or with one friend, or b) going to a venue that allows you to enter the normal group rooms alone. Entertaining yourself in this situation mostly involves drinking alcohol with them and singing karaoke together. Men use karaoke rooms to let off steam or impress prospective investors, much like Americans use a steakhouse with a craft-beer bar.
After hours of drinking, flirting, and singing their hearts out in private karaoke rooms, which can involve frolics and lap dancing, women bring customers into a private hallway, where they engage in a full-on sexual act. Late in the evenings in L.A.s Koreatown, girls file into karaoke rooms that are rented out to men requesting the womens company. The men, typically middle-aged Korean businessmen with lots of money but not much bravado, watch the lineup, perhaps ask a question or two, and then wave the girls off to watch the next round, or choose a favourite to sit with the girls.
In Korean karaoke or noraebang bars, up to 1 in 5 men in Korea employ brokers to provide young women to go along with guests. The pay for a doumi is roughly five times that of the minimum wage (4,850 won). The brokers supplying ladies at a noraebang receive half of the money, while doumis receive the other half. Well, theyare called doumi, theyare women hired to drink and party with men in the noraebang.
It didnat take long for the noraebang to start offering alcohol and doumi, which means assistants in Korean, and in this case, itas women working at the adult entertainment venues. Two young women went to school in the afternoons, then worked in a noraebang in the evenings. A few days later, reporters from JoongAng Ilbo visited another noraebang in the Gangnam district of South Seoul. The few times that I went after a single night were not terribly profitable. Juggling the two things everyday was really hard, said Lee Yoon-hee, so she left to get a new job in a karaoke club, where she worked as an usher, singing and dancing with customers.
I liked how I never had trouble getting picked for the room, unlike some other girls who worked there. Driving around to different clubs, getting in and out of cars, and walking through the dance rooms, getting all sweaty, only to get passed around and be made to do all that over again, was humbling. Usually, karaoke rooms are filled with cigarette smoke, sweat, and spilt liquor, but I found myself one night in a weirdly sterile one. It was basically the Korean equivalent of a Karaoke Bar, or Karaoke Box Room, as it is called in Japan.
Inside of a karaoke room, youall find Korean Karaoke machines with two mics, remotes to a TV screen that displays the lyrics to songs, and a songbook. I donat recall whether or not Coin Karaoke, which I visited, had an option for recording your performances sound on USB, but Solo Room in the Soo Noraebang definitely did.
Most of the noraebangs rent rooms by the hour, and booking is generally not necessary. On the downside to this good facet of coin-operated karaoke, there is no way to tell when rooms are going to open if they are filled. Unlike regular karaoke rooms that fluctuate in price depending on time of day/night, coin karaoke places provide a similar experience, but without that fluctuation, so you always know what you are going to be paying.
If you are planning on singing for an extended time, you are probably better off finding an overall hourly rate karaoke spot. You might want to take a look at this post on Korean Music for some other ideas of songs in each genre. While most of the selection is Korean (K-pop, specifically), there are a lot of English songs, too.
You can often find K-pop songs with both original Korean lyrics and English translations next to each other, which may help you get started. Stephanie Wood, I decided, should have instead gotten her hair done and found her own Gangnam Style in a noraebang — South Koreas version of karaoke venues. With my new friend in Seoul, Grace Lee, who works at a pharmaceutical research firm by day and who translated lyrics from K-pop songs into English for her site Pop!gasa by night, Stephanie Wood dives headlong into the goofiness that is a Friday-after-work beverage, Gangnam-style.