Why The Heck Do I Enjoy Karaoke So Much??

  This is a question that I've been asked by several people who don't really get why such a "silly bar activity for drunks" has become such a big part of my existence.
    First, let me give you a little bit of my story. I was always a very shy guy that never wanted to do anything in front of any crowd of people. I would hesitate to get in front of a class in school to explain something on the blackboard. I would hardly ever lead conversations with people. I was very introverted, and in a lot of ways, I still am quite inhibited, though I have made great strides in recent years.The reason that I ended up being very interested in karaoke was an old girlfriend of mine, who was into karaoke, and she would sometimes drag me to a bar to do karaoke. She would try to convince me to go up and sing, and I would say, "No way! You have fun darling" and I would watch everybody sing. Well, one night, I had a few extra drinks and she was able to convince me to try one song. It was Elvis Presley's "The Wonder Of You". I guess I sounded ok, because a lot of people were clapping when I was done. That made me feel great and set off a light bulb in my head. From that point on, I enjoyed it more and more and soon, a weekend couldn't go by without me visiting a bar to sing. If the place didn't have karaoke, I wouldn't go there. I was now dragging my girlfriend to the bar, instead of the other way around. In her words, she had created a "monster"!! Within a year or so, my relationship with this lady ended, but I kept going to karaoke nights and after a year of it, I decided to buy my own DJ/Karaoke equipment and look for my own shows to host. I went to bars all over NYC and was able to book some shows. I also friended some of the other hosts and they gave me some valuable tips on how to be a good host. I also had the chance to fill-in for some of them from time to time. It was a wonderful time. At one point, I had shows 5 nights a week. The mistake I made was relying on it as my only income. By the time 9/11 had occurred and soon after that, it became a lot harder to book these gigs and some of the crowd that was coming had disappeared. Without a big following, it was harder to command the same pay for these gigs and I basically went back to working for other hosts, who had bigger followings. Nowadays, I just grab whatever bookings I can get and I do karaoke more for just fun.
    To answer the title of this post, I just like singing my favorite songs and I don't really care what people think of my singing voice. I think I sound ok, as long as I sing songs that are in my range. Over 12 years, I've been able to figure out what songs are better for me to do. It's helped me to be out with people more and some of the friends I've made through this activity have been well worth it.