Scott Waddington thinks it’s more nerve-wracking to talk about his triumphs with karaoke than performing on stage, but after singing his way to the top prize in Tamworth last weekend at the Regional NSW finals, he may have to do a lot more talking.
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Scott will represent Regional NSW when he heads to Tweed Heads for the Karaoke World Championship Australian Trials on October 5.
Success at the Nationals would mean a trip to Finland to compete on an international stage against the best karaoke artists in the world.
Last December, after Scott sang a few songs at the Empire Hotel, local organiser Rolande Hooklyn convinced him to take that to another level and go for the competition.
“Actually I’m not taking it seriously like a competitive activity. I just enjoy singing,” Scott said. “You get to pick a few songs that you know, well, there’s thousands of them, every time you go there, you do that little bit better…improve.”
‘New Sensation’ by INXS and ‘Rock DJ’ by Robbie Williams are Scott’s main competition songs, and he’ll submit those for the nationals.
Scott’s conscious of the significance of this next level.
“I’ll have to practice this time. I haven’t practised before, so, I might actually have a bit of a go,” he said.
Rolande is thrilled Scott has got this far.
“Scott is a true entertainer. He has energy and style on the stage, which captures the audience naturally. His humbleness creates a certain kind of attraction.”
Scott’s technique is to stay as close to the original as possible and he gets pretty lively onstage, getting the crowd involved. He’s also in it more for the fun than the competition.
“As long as you feel comfortable and that sort of thing, everything else should be good,” Scott said.
“If the Regional NSW finals are any indication of how tough the competition will be at the national titles, it will certainly be anyone’s guess who will win,” Rolande speculated. “However, Scott does have a really good chance.”
Scott thanks the Empire, the Karaoke World Championship and Capitol Karaoke for making this experience possible for him; taking a good night out with friends to a chance to travel doing something he loves.
He knows there will be friends barracking for him in Tweed Heads.
“I’ve met some really good people doing it and no doubt they’ll travel down,” he said.
“Whether or not Scott takes out the national title or not, it has been a great deal of fun getting him this far and the friendships created at our gigs have been awesome,” said Rolande.
For anybody who hasn’t given karaoke a try he advises controlling the nerves, learning some microphone technique and giving it a go.
“I’ve always liked singing and liked music and tried to copy vocalists on and off. I suppose get up there on stage and well, you’ve got the music behind you. It’s not just singing with a disc or a tape-you’ve just got your own music, the stage is yours.”
