----------------------------Original message---------------------------- In article <[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] writes: >> ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- >> Can anyone give me information on research/articles/personal accounts of the >> use of karaoke in video environments???. Or even more specifically the use >> of media and karaoke with diasporic communities?? >> Rea Turner >> School of Media and Journalism >> Queensland University of Technology >> AUSTRALIA tel:(07) 864-1225 >> If you could specify what you mean by "karaoke in video environments"? As for "media and karaoke with diasporic communities", I can only give brief anecdotic evidence of Japan and Austria. Virtually all Japanese people I got to know here were surprised or even shocked to hear that Austrians did not commonly indulge in karaoke-like-activities, and that it was even hard to find karaoke-places in Austria. The "diasporic" Japanese community in Vienna (if you could call it that) has its use of karaoke, in the sense that specifically known and advertised-for Japanese restaurants have attached karaoke-boxes. Moreover, in the past few years, quite a few non-Japanese restaurants or otherwise dubious places opened up karaoke-rooms, just for the perverse exotic fun of it. What I saw was mostly very drunk, very garish performances of wannabee Madonnas & Michael Jacksons, and the odd Japanese visitor was definitely shocked. (As was the odd Indian visitor at evenings where an Austrian DJ advertised latest Bhangra stuff....) When it comes to Karaoke and Video, what I would find interesting is the distribution policy of images. In other words: The very same video (usually something romantic, couples walking along beaches and sunsets) is often shown as background to various different songs, and even my very own karaoke-favourite (I can't get no satisfaction) is often backgrounded with sunsets & holidays. I wonder whether ever any innovative background-design for karaoke was done, or whether the visual is just considered as something which has to be there and which should be as cheap as possible - just junk. BTW, I never saw any karaoke-LD which combined a Western pop- or rock-song with its very own original video. Birgit Kellner Institute for Indian Philosophy University of Hiroshima