Can a new karaoke competition finally give Canberra’s hospo scene something to sing about?

There are karaoke competitions and then there’s ‘Canberra’s BEST Karaoke Competition’.

“Nothing like this has happened in Canberra for a … well, I don’t think anything like this has happened in Canberra,” says Wes Heather from Venue Events.

Starting this week, three local clubs are working together to bring 12 weeks of karaoke to Canberra, with prizes of thousands of dollars in the mix.

Canberra’s BEST Karaoke Competition is an attempt to resurrect the post-COVID era, when pubs and clubs were awash with patrons enjoying being out and about after months of lockdown and home-delivered pizza.

“When bars and clubs opened up after COVID, it was great to see a lot of new people, but we’re finding with alcohol tariffs going up and the costs of living right now – it’s horrible – and it’s keeping people indoors again,” Wes says.

Wes says events like karaoke nights will become an important source of revenue for many clubs in the ACT as poker machines exit more and more clubs.

(The ACT Government’s ‘Gaming Machine Authorisation Surrender Incentive Scheme’ provides clubs with $15,000 for every poker machine surrendered, or $20,000 per machine if the club goes fully ‘pokie-free’.)

Hotel Queanbeyan, Kambah Inn and Harmonie German Club will take turns hosting the karaoke competitions, which will include nine heats, a final, a semi-final and a grand final.

There are cash prizes of $3500 for first place, $1500 for second and $500 for third.

There’ll also be a ‘wild card’ option, for those who pick up the microphone at any of the venues during the 12 weeks, whether a heat is on or not.

“If they buy a drink or meal from the venue, they can sing a song and enter the wild card, and on the night of the grand final, we’ll draw three wild-card names from each venue and they’ll get to sing a song and the audience will decide who wins $500,” Wes explains.

Wes, a casual karaoke-ist himself, will be on the judging panel, alongside the respective venue’s manager and “a celebrity judge we’ll pull in”.

But forget about spending your next few showers trying to get your voice on key – it’s not the only thing the judges are looking for.

“A lot of venues have said to me, we’re not really keen on karaoke competitions because ‘this person always wins’ or ‘this team always brings in the professional singers and they always win’,” Wes explains.

“But you can be the worst singer in the world and still walk away with the number-one prize. Everyone has a shot.”

Only 20 points go to vocal ability, with 10 for stage presence, 15 for song choice, 15 for audience interaction, 15 for costume and appearance, 10 for stage movement, and 15 for “overall entertainment value”.

“One of the main things we’re trying to do is capture a new crowd, but also by combining all the venues, we’re hopefully going to see people introduced to other venues for the first time and realise, ‘actually, I’ll come here again’,” Wes says.

He says first impressions have been good, with other venues already asking to host the competition in the future, so the plan is to bring it back at least every year.

“What we’re seeing is other venues aren’t afraid to join forces with other venues, especially when there’s no direct competition with them.”

Register to join Canberra’s Best Karaoke Competition online.