Pitch of the Day: 'My Way: Killer Karaoke'
Filed under: Documentary, Foreign Language
I know some people who are crazy for karaoke, but I can't imagine any of them going homicidal over the pastime. Not like the half-dozen or more people in the Philippines who've murdered fellow singers as part of a decade-long crime trend dubbed the "My Way Killings." A popular New York Times article reports on the killings, which are based around the controversy of a single song, Paul Anka/Frank Sinatra's "My Way," and now I'd love to be exposed more to this world of machismo-based karaoke. So moviemakers, get to work on...My Way: Killer Karaoke
The title/subtitle combo fits best with a documentary, and really the story would best be told in the non-fiction format. I guess I wouldn't mind a minimal, realist Filipino drama, particularly one directed by Brillante Mendoza (Serbis; Kinatay). Yet for the full details, including the history of the crimes and responses from all kinds of Filipinos, from police to men who fight over karaoke to outsider perspectives, I think a doc is the best method.
And if any documentarians out there pick up on the idea, I'd definitely like to know more about the guy who killed his neighbors for doing a collective rendition of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads," as well as the woman who got violent in Seattle over a performance of Coldplay's "Yellow." A lot of songs have irritated me to no end, but this is just ridiculous -- and tragic.
The great thing about a documentary on this topic is that no matter how well (or badly) made it is, there's a very good chance it will play at SXSW and that it will receive positive reviews there. The festival is known for screening tons of music films, and the film critics who attend SXSW are known to go out singing at bars and parties at the end of the day.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-09-2010 @ 11:07AM
marcus said...
although i do karaoke and not all the performances are great i cant say i have ever sat there wishing someone dead because of their singing, i've wished them off the stage but taking someones life over their singing?????? How can it be that singing a certain karaoke songs would get you killed?
the x factor judges have to sit through hours of potentially bad auditions and haven't attacked anyone, well it's not been reported if they have so really if this is happening surely it would be connected to a gang initiation or something more sinister than just mob culture, alcohol and a mic hog.
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2-10-2010 @ 9:11AM
Alan Brody said...
I was on a Carnival Cruise where the Filipino crewmemeber passed himself off as a passenger just so he could get a chance to sing it to a big audience. And stole my shot to sing it as a real passenger.....
http://brodysez.blogspot.com/
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