Watching your friends stumble around singing on Zoom is fun and all, but you know what’s really thrilling? A big reveal. Ride the wave, it’s fun.įinally, an important note: There’s one thing Quaraoke has that no regular karaoke bar ever will-your closet. And with the inevitable time lag in streaming, which can be so egregious that it becomes intensely hilarious, the flawedness only gets worse. But like normal karaoke, does it even matter? No one sets out to hear good renditions of popular songs when they step into a karaoke bar, a truth that ultimately translates well to the quarantine version. Without amplified microphones, you might be shocked to discover how poorly you sound while you sing in front of your computer. Which, you can imagine, will not feel like your regular karaoke. Once you’ve mastered the technical parts-which admittedly do feel daunting like every other virtual version of humanity’s normal, pre-pandemic lives, there’s a learning curve to perfecting Zoom karaoke-then it’s time for the Quaraoke itself. Everyone’s mic should be muted, naturally-and the KJ should feel emboldened to mute anyone who doesn’t do it first. The chat room feature is the best place for this, which is where everyone should be hanging out and “talking” while a singer is going at it. (Do you want to mess up your friend’s barn-burning rendition of Aerosmith’s “Cryin’”? We didn’t think so.) Beyond that, the KJ’s only other job is to alert singers when their time is approaching and keep the songs coming. Via the settings menu in the upper left corner of your page, you’ll want to enable moderation-make sure the boxes for Selected Video, Player, and Playlists are all checked, which will limit any of your wild and crazy singers from screwing up the queue or pausing the video.
Now, a few quick housekeeping tips for Watch2Gether.