Watch American Idol any week, and you may hear an epithet — karaoke. For Simon Cowell, the famously rude British judge, the word has become shorthand to damn any contestant for hokey, amateurish singing. Yet what, exactly, is being insulted?
For a hint of the mania in question, consider Karaoke: The Global Phenomenon (Reaktion Books), a new study by Zhou Xun, a research fellow in history at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, and Francesca Tarocco, a lecturer in East Asian Buddhism at the University of Manchester. The sheer extent of the craze is a revelation to those of us who are K-virgins and likely to remain so, no matter how much drink is poured. From the largest cities to the smallest villages, from brothels to churches, and in every kind of bar imaginable, karaoke is enjoyed by millions across the planet