By: Allon Isaacs
TAMPA – Singing is something we all enjoy even if we are not good at it, if you attended Tones of Gold Karaoke Night you would have the opportunity to sing your heart out.
On August 29th Tones of Gold host their fifth annual karaoke night, as I walked through the door I was immeadiatley greeted members of Tones of Gold. To get the night started, before the karaoke began many participated in playing Just Dance on YouTube, dancing to songs like “Dynamite” by Taoi Cruz. In my interview with Ariana Roman, the secretary of Tones of Gold she perfectly describes why Karaoke night is perfect for any student to enjoy.
“It’s a free event, it’s a way to make friends, to meet new people espcially for freshmen or transfer students. If there a fan of siging this is a great way to make friends.” said Roman.
The first song that performed was a duet with Ella Balabas and her friend Lynnsey McClamma the song they did was “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga. Ella Balabas is the treasurer of Tones of Gold, and she the first person to greet me as I walked through the door. In my interview with Balabas she states her favorite perfomance if the night.
“I just did “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, and I thought that was a really fun song.” said Balabas.
While speaking with Balabas she told me what Tones of Gold and Karaoke nights means to her. She describes Tones of Gold as place where she can be herself, sing, express her music without any worries and create a strong community. Speaking with Ella I got good sense of what Tones of Gold is a group and what they strive to be and someone that is enjoys music. While she does not play instruments she loves to sing!
“I only sing, my favorite thing to do is sing, it’s my best hobby.” said Balabas.
In a another conversation of the night, I was able to speak with Mill Poole. Poole said his interest to attend karaoke night was drawn to the posters he saw in the art building. Poole is someone who enjoys punk rock music, plays the electric guitar and likes the band Paramore, the song he performed on the night was “Still Into You” by Paramore, when I asked him about why students at USF should care about Karaoke night he said it a fun activity that everyone can enjoy.
“I think it is just a fun community activity, that people can get together and do. I feel a lot of people like singing.” said Poole.
While the music and being played and songs were sung, with me being a the back room the room I sang and my own fun depiste not being able to go up to the front and sing some of my favorite songs. While there where good performances and got everyone signing and clapping, tyhe best performance of the night was from Luke Young. Luke is a Tunes of Gold member, the song he performed was “One Day More” by the Les Miserables Cast, here is a clip of his performance, after seeing a performace like that you would always want to go a Tones of Gold karaoke night.