10/13/2026
KARAOKE FUN FACTS AND HISTORY🎤🎶
In the Philippines, karaoke is much more than a casual hobby. It's a national pastime, a deep-rooted cultural phenomenon, and an essential part of daily life. The country is widely regarded as the "Karaoke Capital of the World"
In a previous post, we mentioned that karaoke originated in Japan with the very first karaoke machine, but it was Filipino entrepreneur and inventor Roberto del Rosario who patented the first "Karaoke Sing-Along System" in 1975. His system utilized cassettes and printed lyric booklets, paving the way for the video-based machines used today.
VIDEOKE📹🎼
In the Philippines, you will often hear the term "videoke". It's karaoke, but videoke machines include a built-in, competitive scoring system.
The system grades your pitch and timing, typically giving a score out of 100.
Even if you sing completely off-key, the machine might still generously give you a high score just for finishing the song.
DID YOU KNOW? 🤔
Frank Sinatra's "My Way" is banned in most bars in the Philippines. Why? Fights often broke out over a performer singing the song terribly off-key, laughing at a singer, or hogging the microphone. Fights would escalate to tragedy, so bar owners banned the song to keep the peace.
