Baxter Village - Karaoke Every Friday Night at Beef O' Brady's

Don't Miss Karaoke Every Friday at 9 PM.

** JB' s Karaoke Blog **

Uniting People Who Shouldn't Drink . . .
              With People Who Shouldn't Sing . . .
                       With People Who Shouldn't Have
             Video Cameras.
                                         BaxterKaraoke.com

This Friday, August 6^th – It Ain’t “YouTube Night” but It’s still Karaoke Night – I would expect there to be a bit of a hangover after last weekend’s extravaganza at Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge (check baxterkaraoke.com for pics and the videos of the performances); but that just means everyone will get a chance to sing. Personally, I plan on breaking out a couple of new songs I have never sung before. Chubby’s Karaoke’s K.J. TRY will get things started at 9 PM. Come early to eat. I actually just got back from Beef’s and noticed this Friday Night only they will feature a free 2 Taco basket ($6.99 value) with each order of an entrée and of course will feature $3.50 Appletini’s and $2 Bud Lights. (For what it was worth, I tried their fish tacos and they were fantastic. It would have been nice if they had been free.)

Last Friday Night’s YouTube Contest – Anyone who was at last Friday’s Karaoke Contest at Beef’s knows I don’t have to hype how awesome it was. Fortunately, I have over 600 pics linked through facebook links at http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Pictures.html to immortalize the memories. (Thank you Reg and especially my good friend, Jim Slagle who donated his time and equipment to document his last night as our YouTube Event Photographer . . . Jim, You will be missed.) If you haven’t heard, the winning videos are now linked to the website as well at http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html. (Thank you Michael for performing the thankless job of filming all of the acts. These videos are the best yet.) There was truly more talent than I think the contest has ever witnessed. Every performance was phenomenal.

            The Celebrity Judges had an incredibly difficult job culling through the incredible talent and narrowing down the contestants to the final 6 based on vocal ability, song knowledge, audience interaction and entertainment quality, but they finally pulled out the top 6 and the audience ranked them as follows (all 6 performances can be viewed on http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html):

·        1^st Place – “Most Entertaining”: Cindy C.’s “The Pussycat Song” by Connie Vanette – I have already heard the Humane Society is considering making this their new theme song.

·        2^nd Place – “Most Entertaining”: Anthony’s (featuring Dustin) “I’m On A Boat” by Lonely Island – What T-Pain Does to Mermaids is underappreciated.

·        3^rd Place - ”Most Entertaining”: Christine H.’s “Ice, Ice Baby” (ReMix) by Vanilla Mix – All I can say is that she not only brought sexy back, she brought the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s back. She incorporated at least 10 other rap songs into this classic. Absolutely Incredible!

·        1^st Place – “Best Vocalist”: Erika S.’s “I Wanna Dance” by Whitney Houston – Apparently the audience also wanted to dance. Great job, Erika!

·        2^nd Place – “ Best Vocalist”: Austin W.’s “Somebody to Love” by Queen – Yep. That’s the song. . . And he nailed it. Seriously, hearing it live, my jaw was on the floor. I expect we will hear more from this guy. I can’t wait to hear what he does next.

·        3^rd Place – “Best Vocalist”: Jeff T.’s “Living La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin – This guy has one of the best voices to ever come out to Beef’s. I always love it when he hits the stage and this time he did not disappoint.

All of the other performance can also be viewed by simply going to the http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Home.html page and clicking on the Karaoke YouTube Channel link. Here are a the other highlights:

·        Shanta started the contest with a bang with Alicia Key’s “Every Little Bit Hurts”.

·        Steffan warmed up the crowd with Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”.

·        Reggie crushed a Kings of Leon cover with “Use Somebody”.

·        Holly performed an awesome Bono imitation with U2’s “Bad”.

·        Davis broke out an Elvis classic with “Suspicious Minds”.

·        Leslie rocked the crowd with an incredible rendition of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.

·        Deb showed that California Gurls don’t have anything on Carolina Girls by covering Katy Perry.

·        Scott exhibited a hilariously disturbing reason that he should never be confused with a “Hollaback Girl” with his Gwen Stefani favorite.

·        Shannon broke out the George Michael classic, “I Want Your Sex”.

·        Terry came in with a late entry version of the crowd favorite, “Bust A Move” by Young M.C.

·        Donnie rocked some Bon Jovi with “Wanted Dead of Alive.”

·        Dustin proved he isn’t our monkey with an actually serious song, “Stop and Stare” by One Republic.

·        Ray pulled out some T-Pain Auto-Tune Effect with “Got Money”.

·        Jen took us to church with the Gospel Rock Classic, “Jesus is Just Allright” by D.C. Talk

·        Matt C. performed ala Milli Vanilla with an actual cover artist (Reggie) on “Baby, Don’t Forget My Number”.

·        JB (with the help of the lovely Sonja and Matt C.) did “Da Butt” by E.U.

We are already making plans for our next YouTube Karaoke Challenge in October, so start planning your numbers now. This is only getting better.

JB

7-21-2010

Friday, July 30^th; The Next Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge – We have the Camera man issue worked out, the celebrity judges narrowed down and have the prizes purchased so we can finally promote this thing. But there one and a half weeks to go until the Greatest Karaoke Contest in Human History. I know some hilarious ideas are bantering around, so don’t be surprised if you see Dustin, Blake, Kendall, Cindy and Matt break out all the stops. I have even heard rumors that we might get Ace in on the action. So, if you know anyone who can sing or anyone who is willing to make a jack-ass of themselves in front of a crowd of strangers (what we call “entertaining” in the karaoke biz), make sure they all know about this event. Both performers are equally capable of winning a Nintendo Wii/DJ Hero Multiplayer Edition Game Bundle as Beef’s will award these to two winners: One for “Best Vocalist” and One for “Most Entertaining.” Even 2^nd place winners will walk away with incredible prizes. While “Best Vocalist” is self-explanatory, if you aren’t sure what passes as entertaining in karaoke, please check out this video link for previous winners: http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html. Every contest has seen participants step up the game so while there will be plenty of entries, the bar has been consistently raised as far as what will win. Anyone can enter this contest and interested participants can check out the rules at the bottom of this email. Even if you aren’t interested in performing, Beef O’Brady’s in Baxter Village will still be the place to be in York County. Be prepared though. While it is always a blast, it will also be packed. So be sure and get there early to command a good seat. (Check out the pictures from the last contest at this link: http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Home.html.) By 9:00 PM, it is usually standing room only. Also, remember, while the celebrity judges will select the final 6 contestants; ultimately, the winners will be determined by you, the audience members. . . That’s a lot of power . . .so use it wisely. Here are the rules:

You Can Do It!

How to plan for the upcoming YouTube Karaoke Challenge on July 30th:

1. Get to Beef O’Brady’s early Friday night. It can get crowded on a normal karaoke night but YouTube Night is crazy. If you think you want a table, you might as well come early and eat there. (There will be two less tables available this competition due to the judges tables.)

2. Sign up for the contest before 9:30 PM. The contest will begin promptly at 10:00 PM and will run straight until all the contestants have performed. Because we want the contest over by midnight, we can only accept 24 entries. So the first 24 to sign up will be in the contest.

3. Each contestant must sign a waiver. This contest will be video recorded and we need your permission to put your video up on YouTube. Check out previous performances via www.baxterkaraoke.com. (Only contestants who sign the waiver can enter the contest.)

4. Draw your position. The contestants will randomly draw their order (it’s only fair since no one wants to go first or go last). If you get a bad number, you may be able to trade with other contestants but that will need to be worked out quickly so the KJ can queue up the songs to keep the contest moving.

5. Be prepared to perform. There will be a small room behind the “stage” in which you can change clothes if you have a costume or a prop (or 13 people joining you on stage if you are Josh M.) ready before you get called. Bring everything you need in a bag and be ready to go when it is your turn.

6. Impress the judges. This will be the third time we will have judges narrowing the competitive landscape to the final 6. They will be determining who they think are the best three vocalists (based on the contestant’s vocal ability, song knowledge and the song’s difficulty) and who they think are the three best entertainers (based less on vocal ability and more on the entertainment value and audience reaction).

7. Play to the Audience. This is the endgame and also why you want to bring all of your friends. It will be up to the audience to determine who they think is “the best” by voting for their favorites in each category. Ballots will be handed out with each voter having to name their favorite vocal performer and their favorite entertainer. There will be two lines on the ballot and each voter must put two different names. (Ballots with two of the same name on them will be discarded.) Secret: The more people you bring with you, the better the chances are you will win!

8. Collect your Wii/DJ Hero Bundle. Once the ballots are tallied, the winners will be announced and the prizes will be handed out. The contestant voted “The Most Entertaining” and the contestant voted the “Best Vocalist” will each win a Nintendo Wii with the game “DJ Hero – Multiplayer Edition” with two turntables! Those receiving 2^nd place and 3rd place in each category will each win cool prizes as well.

5-5-2010

Friday, May 7^th – Karaoke Night – (And Dustin’s “Going-To-Get-Married” Party) - If you have been a regular of “Karaoke Night” at Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s for any length of time, you have probably had the “pleasure” of witnessing Dustin R. perform one of his renditions of a well-known song but with a clever twist. He is truly one of the funniest people I have ever met. Well, what you may not know is that he also is engaged to marry a certain woman whom most of us simply refer to as “Dustin’s Hot Girfriend”. As it turns out, they are getting married next weekend. So, a couple of things are happening this Friday night: A. We are celebrating Dustin and “Dustin’s Hot Girlfriend’s” approaching nuptials. B. We are enjoying the last weekend that we will witness Dustin performing his mostly raunchy, socially insensitive, and generally hilarious song tributes without the guilt of knowing it reflects directly on his family and his “Hot Girlfriend.” (Believe me. It is the same reason why you will generally witness my wife quietly leaving karaoke about 10:30 PM.)

So come on out to Beef O’Brady’s in Fort Mill, SC this Friday night. (In full disclosure, we have a kickball game at 9:30 PM, which means, we will arrive at 7 PM to eat and drink before our game. Then we will have to leave at 9 PM before returning for karaoke at approximately 10:45 PM.) Make sure you buy Dustin and “Dustin’s Hot Girlfriend” a drink and tell them “Congratulations.” (God knows Tina is going to need it.)

For you Beef O’Brady’s Karaoke Regulars, here are three things you should know about Dustin:

1. Dustin was the winner of the very first Beef O’Brady’s Karaoke YouTube Karaoke Challenge. Here’s a link: http://www.youtube.com/baxterkaraoke#p/u/119/b1KQ8HoeGZk

2. Dustin is an incredible improv comedian. (He can be seen with funnybone improv out of Charlotte: http://www.funnyboneimprov.com/team2.htm)

3. Dustin is a transplant from Philadelphia. (Obviously, that spells class. Seriously, Philly is the home of Grace Kelly, Kevin Bacon, Tina Fey, Kate Gosselin, Seth Green, Bob Saget, Pink, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and DJ Jazzy Jeff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Philadelphia )

4. Dustin is marrying a woman who apparently has a vision problem. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/ddvi.htm

5. Dustin is possibly one of the funniest people you will ever see perform karaoke: http://www.youtube.com/baxterkaraoke#p/u/100/k9Pxq3Rh69g

Uniting People Who Shouldn't Drink . . .
      With People Who Shouldn't Sing . . .
            With People Who Shouldn't Have
                   Video Cameras.
                        BaxterKaraoke.com

P.S. For those of you lacking motivation to celebrate the Dustin and Tina Riccardo Marriage, here are a few motivational posters (By the way, I literally sent out about 50 different versions of these. Thank you, Matt & Cindy C., Deb Rapa, and Funnyboneimprov.com for the final cuts):

I'm sorry. I tried to upload the images of images that would be freaking hilarious!!! If you would like to get more of the funny, let me add you to the email distribution list at bonoburns@comporium.net. Just ask to be added.

4-24-2010

Thank you for making last night’s Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge the best karaoke contest on record. We had phenomenal singers, hilarious performances, and a new record for the most people involved in one performance. If you missed it, there were so many highlights I can’t possibly mention them all, but here are a few:

· Mark and Erika’s A-game imitation and vocal rendition of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind”.

· Two versions of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” that incorporated a trained violinist who actually performed the fiddle parts.

· Samantha working the crowd with a sexy cover of “Cowboy Casanova”.

· A version of Enigma’s “Return to Innocence” featuring ribbon dancing, an interpretation for the “hearing impaired”, Dustin with bongos in “tight-y whiteys”, and a fog machine.

· J-Money’s patriotic “Courtesy of the Red White and Blue” while 12 of his friends appeared behind him dressed as various famous American icons from Abe Lincoln to Mom & Apple pie. . .literally. (If any of you have any Stephen Colbert contacts, we need to get a copy of the video to him. It was phenomenal.)

· An end of the night, a totally unexpected, killer rendition of the “Old School/Dan Band” version of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by the incredibly hot celebrity judge, Nicole Darin. (Unfortunately, the cameras weren’t rolling, otherwise this would so be “YouTube-worthy”.)

The pictures from Friday night should be posted within a couple of days on baxterkaraoke.com, and hopefully, we’ll have the videos up before next Friday.

The final winners were:

Best Vocalist:

1^st Place: Samantha – “Cowboy Casanova” by Carrie Underwood

2^nd Place: Cindy S. – “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from Phantom of the Opera

3^rd Place: Jeff – “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi

Most Entertaining:

1^st Place: Josh (“J-Money”) – “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith

2^nd Place: Cindy C. – “Tell It To My Heart” by Taylor Dayne

3^rd Place: JB – “Return to Innocence” by Enigma

A special thanks to Beef O’Brady’s & Bud Light for the awesome prizes and venue.

Thank you TRY and Chubby’s Karaoke for the hard work and steady hand during the tribulations that come with trying to do 10 things at once.

Thank you Celebrity Judges for taking time out of your schedules to make this event even better by narrowing down the incredible choices for the audience vote.

Thank you Jim Slagle for taking the awesome pictures. You are awesome!

Thank you Michael Hipskind for working the video camera for 2 ½ hours. It wouldn’t be YouTube night without you.

Thank you singers, patrons and audience members for coming out and making “YouTube Night” the sensation that it has become.

This Friday, April 23^rd - The Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge - There are only a few days to go until The Greatest Karaoke Contest in Human History. If you know anyone who can sing or anyone who is willing to make a jack-ass of themselves in front of a crowd of strangers (what we call “entertaining” in the karaoke biz), make sure they know about this event. Both performers are equally capable of winning a Nintendo Wii/RockBand 2 Bundle as Beef’s will award two winners: One for “Best Vocalist” and One for “Most Entertaining.” Even 2^nd place winners will walk away with a RockBox (a hard-case cooler with speakers and an Ipod mount.) While “Best Vocalist” is self-explanatory, if you aren’t sure what passes as entertaining at karaoke, please check out this video link for previous winners: http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html. Anyone can enter this contest. They can check out the rules at the bottom of this email. Even if you aren’t interested in performing, Beef O’Brady’s in Baxter Village will still be the place to be in York County this Friday night. Be prepared though. While it is always a blast, it will also be packed. So be sure and get there early to command a good seat. (Check out the pictures from the last contest at this link: http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Home.html.) By 9:00 PM, it is usually standing room only. Also, remember, while the judges will select the final 6 contestants; ultimately, the winners will be determined by you, the audience members. . . That’s a lot of power . . .so use it wisely.

A special thanks goes out to our Celebrity Judges.

How to plan for the upcoming contest:

5. Be prepared to perform. There will be a small room behind the “stage” in which you can change clothes if you have a costume or a prop ready before you get called. Bring everything you need in a bag and be ready to go when it is your turn.

6. Impress the judges. This will be the second time we will have judges narrowing the competitive landscape to the final 6. They will be determining who they think are the best three vocalists (based on the contestant’s vocal ability, song knowledge and the song’s difficulty) and who they think are the three best entertainers (based less on vocal ability and more on the entertainment value and audience reaction).

8. Collect your Wii/RockBand 2 Bundle. Once the ballots are tallied, the winners will be announced and the prizes will be handed out. The contestant voted “The Most Entertaining” and the contestant voted the “Best Vocalist” will each win a Nintendo Wii with the game “RockBand 2”! Those receiving 2^nd place in each category will each win a RockBox (which is a cooler with speakers with which you can listen to your ipod.) There will be cool prizes for the third place finalists as well.

******

Briefly, Last Friday: If you missed the party that Jen B. brought to Karaoke last weekend, you should probably be horse-whipped. Check out pics linked to Baxterkaraoke.com. It was Erika’s birthday and an incredible group. (We even had Jeff back bringing the heat!) A special thanks goes to fellow Kickball team “Drinking Liberally” for joining “Kickin’ It Old School” for some karaoke. It was a fun night.

This Friday, April 16^th, Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s will, of course, host the usual Karaoke night starting at 9:00 PM. The Beef O’Brady’s “Kickin’ It Old School” Kickball team has a game at 8:30 PM in Runde Park at Tega Cay so we probably won’t arrive until close to 10 PM. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get there early and start drinking $3.50 Appletini’s in preparation for our arrival.

Next Friday, April 23^rd – There is only one week to go until Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s presents the greatest Karaoke Contest in Human History. There will be two Grand Prize Winners who will each walk away with a Nintendo Wii and RockBand 2! There will be two different categories: Most Entertaining & Best Vocalist. There will be celebrity judges, incredible talent, and hilarious acts. All of the performances will be video recorded and uploaded to YouTube. If you live in the greater Fort Mill area, consider this contest your “Moonwalk.” Your grandchildren will be asking where you were when Beef O’Brady’s held the April 23^rd Karaoke Contest that featured two Wii’s with Rock Band 2 as prizes. If you know someone with a killer voice or nerves of steel, please pass this along or simply send me their email address and I will beg them to come out. They will not want to miss it. Check out the previous winners on the video page of the www.BaxterKaraoke.com. Check out the new ad:

This Friday, April 2^nd – It’s Karaoke Night - So. You have family in town for Easter Weekend and are looking for a way to celebrate the Resurection of our Lord and Saviour? Get them out of the house and treat them to Karaoke at Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s! Karaoke starts at 9 PM but get there early and plan on staying late. By the way, did you know that Cindy C. has a sister? You may get to meet her Friday night. While you are there, make sure you check out the new $3.50 Appletini Specials and check out Anthony’s own liquor creation Astro-Pop’s. (They are by special request and they are delicious.)

(On a personal note: Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s success landed them in a pilot program with only two other locations which is testing a new special menu. Included is a BBQ Chicken Flatbread with their Kickin’ Bayou BBQ sauce. It is Ri-Donk-U-Lous! In fact, I think I may start ordering everything with a side of the Kickin’ Bayou BBQ Sauce.)

Friday, April 23^rd – The Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge – Mark your Calendars! The date has been set for the “Greatest Karaoke Contest In Human History.” Once again, there will be two winners. One for Best Vocalist and one for Most Entertaining. The winners from the last challenge will join 4 more local celebrities to judge and select the final six contestants who will then be voted on by the audience. The contestants range from extremely talented to absolutely hilarious and the gimmicks and costumes have made this a can’t miss event quarterly. Rumors have it that the prizes will be fantastic. I am hoping some of our own past celebrities will plan on coming out and bringing the heat. Cindy C., Josh, Kendall, Blake, Dustin, Steve L., Cindy S, and Liz M.? The crowd loves you guys and we are all hoping to see you all in the contest. Anyone can Enter. Anyone can Win. Everyone will be Video Recorded. Check out the Karaoke Videos link at www.BaxterKaraoke.com for examples of previous winners. Watch for more details.

A quick note on last week’s karaoke (Friday, Feb. 19^th): If you missed last week I have one word for you: Jamie. The mid-westerner found Beef O’Brady’s on the internet and decided to come out and bring the entertainment. Jamie, please come back out. You are the bomb! Pictures are linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com.

This Friday, February 26^th, 2010 - 8:00 PM – Comedy Followed by Karaoke (with probably more comedy)! This Friday, plan on coming out to Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s early as Charlotte’s favorite Improv Comedy Troupe, The Chuckleheads, will be performing sketches and audience participation games in the style of Whose Line is it Anyway? If you are a fan of Second City or The Groundlings, you need to check out The Chuckleheads. We have been fortunate to have The Chuckleheads come out to Beef O’Brady’s several times now and they are always hilarious. . . but this time they will star Baxter’s own Italian Firecracker, Lisa Samuels, who will be celebrating her birthday by performing for us! The show will start promptly at 8 PM so Krista and I are going early so we can eat and get a good seat. (There is no cost for the show but donations would be appreciated.) Karaoke will start immediately afterward at 9:30 PM.

P.S. Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s now has a Friday late-night menu. They are serving many of their best treats until 12:30 PM (Sliders, Fried Pickles and their Homemade Potato Chips.). And don’t miss their drink specials.

. . . Also, Save the Date: March 13^th, 2-6 PM - The Grapevine’s “Beertopia”. Over 80 Beers. A Live Band. BBQ. Buy your tickets in advance and save $5. I bought mine today. More information at mygrapevineonline.com/events.

IT’S FRIDAY!!!! The Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge is Finally Here!

I have it from a very reliable source that while this could be a wintry weekend, snow won’t actually hit Fort Mill until the wee hours of Saturday morning. Weather.com confirms this for those of you who don’t trust my anonymous “reliable source”. (See Below) So bundle up and come out to Beef O’Brady’s early. You can warm up with chili, hot house-made potato chips and the best curly fries in the area while you sing, laugh and cheer with the contestants in the Greatest Karaoke Contest in Human History!!! (They say the “Karaoke Fuel” Drink Specials will warm you up too.) Hey with it getting down to 32 degrees, at least you know the beers will be cold with $2 Bud Lights and Limes all night.

This is the “Can’t Miss” Night. You will not be disappointed. . . And two lucky performers will go home with Brand New Nintendo Wii/Karaoke Revolution Bundles!

Weather.com

Daily Details for
Fort Mill, SC (29708)
[ English | Metric ]

Hourly Forecast more details

6 am

33°F

Feels Like
27°F

9 am

32°F

Feels Like
25°F

12 pm

39°F

Feels Like
33°F

3 pm

42°F

Feels Like
38°F

6 pm

41°F

Feels Like
37°F

9 pm

32°F

Feels Like
26°F

PM Showers

High
43°F

Precip
50%

Wintry Mix

Overnight Low
30°F

Precip
90%

This Friday, January 29^th: The Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge

The greatest Karaoke Contest in Human History is coming to Fort Mill, SC this Friday night: The Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge. There is a scurry among contestants to get their performances polished up. From what I have heard, the audience will not be disappointed. It is destined to be the best contest yet with acts ranging from the dramatic to the hilarious. Why is this contest different? Besides the fact that all performances will be video recorded and uploaded to YouTube, there are two Nintendo Wii’s with ”Karaoke Revolution” up for grabs, plus some incredible prizes for the contestants coming in second and third place this Friday night. If you want to watch from a good vantage point or you want to compete, I suggest you get to Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s early and eat downstairs. It will be packed! (Speaking of eating, have you had their house-made potato chips? Give me some ranch dressing and I can make a meal out of them.)

P.S. You must sign up for the contest by 9:30 PM to be in the Karaoke Challenge. Don’t Be Late.

How to plan for the upcoming contest:

1. Get to Beef O’Brady’s early Friday night. It can get crowded on a normal karaoke night but YouTube Night is crazy. If you think you want a table, you might as well come early and eat there. (There will be one less table available this competition due to the judges table.)

6. Impress the judges. This will be the first time we will have judges narrowing the competitive landscape to the final 6. They will be determining who they think are the best three vocalists (based on the contestant’s vocal ability, song knowledge and the song’s difficulty) and who they think are the three best entertainers (based less on vocal ability and more on the entertainment value and audience reaction).

8. Collect your Wii. Once the ballots are tallied, the winners will be announced and the prizes will be handed out. The contestant voted “The Most Entertaining” and the contestant voted the “Best Vocalist” will each win a Nintendo Wii with the game “Karaoke Revolution”!

This Friday, January, 22 – Karaoke Night – If last week is a proxy, you will want to get to Beef O’Brady’s on Market Street in Baxter early this Friday. (Check out pics to see what I am talking about at www.baxterkaraoke.com) By 10:00 PM, it was standing-room-only as people are apparently revving up for the upcoming YouTube Karaoke Challenge. By the way, don’t wait to sign up to sing. Many who waited last week, found themselves with a 45 minute to an hour wait before their name was called. As always, karaoke starts at 9:00 PM but the sign-up sheet is usually out by 8:30 PM; so sign up as soon as you get there. Don’t forget, this is your last week to practice before the big competition.

Next Friday, January 29^th- The Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge - Speaking of getting to Beef O’Bradys’s early, this event promises to be a madhouse. The greatest karaoke contest in human history will take place at Beef O’Brady’s next Friday night. Karaoke will begin at 9 PM but the competition will start promptly at 10 PM. You must be there to sign up prior to 9:30 PM to enter the contest. There will be two grand prizes determined by Judges and Audience Votes. (See the celebrity judges below.) Both the person voted the “Best Vocalist” and the person voted the “Most Entertaining” will each win a Nintendo Wii with a Karaoke Game. (Check out www.baxterkaraoke.com and go to the video link to see examples of winners of the “most entertaining” category in past contests.) There will also be cool prizes for the 2^nd and 3^rd place winners. I have heard whisperings of some of the acts that are coming out to compete and I am telling you now it will be the best contest we have seen yet.

Friday Night, January 29^th, The Beef O’Brady’s “YouTube” Karaoke Challenge - It is time to get your costumes ready, your props lined up and your lyrics memorized. The best Karaoke contest in human history is only two weeks away. This is the Karaoke night you do not want to miss! It draws out the craziest and most talented people in the area . Check out previous performances at our video page on www.baxterkaraoke.com or on our YouTube page which can also be linked from the website. While all of the previous contests have been a blast, the first one for 2010 looks like it will be the biggest and best yet. Anyone can enter. Anyone can win. Everyone will be video recorded. There will be two grand prize winners (“Best Vocal Performance” and “Most Entertaining”) who will both win a Nintendo Wii with the Karaoke Revolution game! Winners will be determined by a combination of the judges panel and audience votes. Judges will include the Fort Mill Town Manager, Local television personalities and two of the contest’s previous winners, Dustin (Jan, 2008) and myself. But all the judges will do is narrow down the list. The final winners will be determined by the audience’s vote. This means contestants should bring their friends! Please pass the word on to any and all karaoke fans you know!

This Friday, January 8^th – Karaoke Night -- It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night!

Friday, January 29^th -- The New & Improved Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge -- Mark your calendars because after much discussion, the next YouTube Night Extravaganza has been planned and it is sure to be competitive and bigger than ever. There will be two Grand Prize Winners (One for “Best Vocalist” & One For “Most Entertaining”) who will be determined by a finalist selection by celebrity judges and then put up for a vote from the ever-zealous Karaoke Audience. The Grand Prizes will be two Nintendo Wii/Karaoke Revolution Bundles! So that means contestants will need to bring their A game, as well as plenty of friends who will give them their vote. There will be more information forthcoming but prepare to get your socks blown off. Be sure and check out previous winners at this fantastic event by visiting www.BaxterKaraoke.com. (We are instituting a new rule that if you won the last contest, you may not compete but will be asked to be one of the judges in the next contest. Thus, I will be an impartial judge in the upcoming “YouTube Night” Battle.) Pass the word!

January 31, 2009 - While there will be no Karaoke this Friday (it will start back January 8th), watch for more details about our next Beef O’Brady’s YouTube Karaoke Challenge on Friday, January 29^th! There will be two Grand Prize Winners based on a combination of Judges and Audience Votes for “Most Entertaining” and the “Best Vocal Performance”.

Friday, December 18^th, THE LAST KARAOKE NIGHT IN 2009 – OK. We have all heard the weather could be messy, but attendance at the final Karaoke Night of the year at Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s is mandatory. Last week Karaoke started slow but snowballed into one of the best nights we have had this year. By 11:00 PM, the place was packed with people coming from their respective Christmas Parties full of the Holiday “spirit”. By midnight, we had the Baxter hottie, Stephanie, doing a leg lift that is probably during her solo, Reggie bringing a ripping version of Mr. Mister’s “Kyrie”, and Cindy breaking out a Prince classic that has a title I can’t repeat in this email. (Pics are linked at www.baxterkaraoke.com.) Also, this Week: Please don’t forget to tip KJ TRY extra (this is his Christmas bonus, guys). TRY with Chubby’s Karaoke has proven to be the best Karaoke Man in the business with an expansive selection of songs and videos to keep every week unique you constantly looking for new songs to bust out. His tip jar is right next to the sign-up sheet. TRY will get things started at 9:00 PM.

If for some crazy reason, I don’t see you at karaoke tomorrow night, please have a Merry Christmas, and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

This Friday’s Karaoke Night (& Birthday Celebration), December 11^th – Yep. After the Christmas parties, makes sure you way over to Fort Mill’s Beef O’Brady’s this Friday Night as Karaoke gets started promptly at 9:00 PM. It won’t take long to find out why it was voted Fort Mill’s “Best place to be on Friday Nights”. This week, join us as we are celebrating the birthday of possibly the funniest karaoke-chick on the planet: The Sizzling All-Star, Cindy C. (Most of you have seen Cindy and know how funny she is but if you haven’t had the pleasure, feel free to check her performance from our April 24^th YouTube Contest at: www.youtube.com/baxterkaraoke#p/u/53/UtHJvPzBFIE.) If that wasn’t enough of a draw, come find out one of the reasons why Beef O’Brady’s male attendance on Friday nights has been steadily rising over the past few months as the always-sexy (and generally sarcastic) server, Sodonia, who is also celebrating her birthday this week, will be in the house. (I think she might be 19 or something.) Make sure you wish them a Happy Birthday and buy them both a drink. They certainly deserve it. We’ll see you guys on Friday!

JB

“Black Friday” Karaoke – November 27^th – After a full day of binge eating, over-exposure to in-laws, and passive aggressive behavior from fellow bargain hunters on the biggest shopping day of the year, everyone needs to blow off some steam. Thus, Karaoke Night this Friday will certainly be a good night to check out the action. TRY will get the party started at 9:00 PM and typically goes ‘til 2 AM. This past Friday’s Karaoke night turned out to be a real treat that even included an awesome rendition of Snap’s “The Power” by C-money and Erika. (Did you know Erika is the daughter of the lead singer of the Gold Record Producing, Grammy Award Winning Band, The Tramps who wrote and performed “Disco Inferno”? For those of you too young, it is included in a mix on the new game DJ Hero.) We even got too see the always hot servers, Sodonia and Brook, show their prowess on the dance floor as they performed a hilarious imitation of Destiny Child’s “All the Single Ladies”. Be sure to check out the pics linked to www.BaxterKaraoke.com.

After a full day of binge eating, over-exposure to in-laws, and passive aggressive behavior from fellow bargain hunters on the biggest shopping day of the year, everyone needs to blow off some steam.Thus, Karaoke Night this Friday will certainly be a good night to check out the action.TRY will get the party started at 9:00 PM and typically goes ‘til 2 AM.This past Friday’s Karaoke night turned out to be a real treat that even included an awesome rendition of Snap’s “The Power” by C-money and Erika. (Did you know Erika is the daughter of the lead singer of the Gold Record Producing, Grammy Award Winning Band, who wrote and performed “Disco Inferno”? For those of you too young, it is included in a mix on the new game .)We even got too see the always hot servers, Sodonia and Brook, show their prowess on the dance floor as they performed a hilarious imitation of Destiny Child’s “All the Single Ladies”.Be sure to check out the pics linked to .

It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night! It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night! It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night! It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night! After a full day of binge eating, over-exposure to in-laws, and passive aggressive behavior from fellow bargain hunters on the biggest shopping day of the year, everyone needs to blow off some steam.Thus, Karaoke Night this Friday will certainly be a good night to check out the action.TRY will get the party started at 9:00 PM and typically goes ‘til 2 AM.This past Friday’s Karaoke night turned out to be a real treat that even included an awesome rendition of Snap’s “The Power” by C-money and Erika. (Did you know Erika is the daughter of the lead singer of the Gold Record Producing, Grammy Award Winning Band, who wrote and performed “Disco Inferno”? For those of you too young, it is included in a mix on the new game .)We even got too see the always hot servers, Sodonia and Brook, show their prowess on the dance floor as they performed a hilarious imitation of Destiny Child’s “All the Single Ladies”.Be sure to check out the pics linked to .

It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night!It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night! It has been a few weeks since Fort Mill, SC’s Beef O’Brady’s hosted Karaoke so I am pumped about getting back this week. As usual, Karaoke will get started at 9:00 PM and I am hearing the first Karaoke night of 2010 should be a blast. If you see Jen and Michael B. out, make sure you buy them a drink. They are both celebrating birthdays this weekend. I’m expecting stories. See you Friday night! After a full day of binge eating, over-exposure to in-laws, and passive aggressive behavior from fellow bargain hunters on the biggest shopping day of the year, everyone needs to blow off some steam.Thus, Karaoke Night this Friday will certainly be a good night to check out the action.TRY will get the party started at 9:00 PM and typically goes ‘til 2 AM.This past Friday’s Karaoke night turned out to be a real treat that even included an awesome rendition of Snap’s “The Power” by C-money and Erika. (Did you know Erika is the daughter of the lead singer of the Gold Record Producing, Grammy Award Winning Band, who wrote and performed “Disco Inferno”? For those of you too young, it is included in a mix on the new game .)We even got too see the always hot servers, Sodonia and Brook, show their prowess on the dance floor as they performed a hilarious imitation of Destiny Child’s “All the Single Ladies”.Be sure to check out the pics linked to .

Friday Night, November 6th, Karaoke Night - Last Friday at Beef O'Brady's was an absolute riot. We celebrated Matt C.'s Birthday and had an influx of people later as they arrived after their respective Halloween Parties. Karaoke went strong until 2:00 AM. Even Ace Ventura came out. Make sure you check out the pics from last week at www.baxterkaraoke.com. This week, I am hearing we may get a visit by Glen Buckner and his crew as he is in town before his final move to Kentucky. Karaoke starts at 9:00 PM. I'll see you then!

Sunday Night, November 8th, Comedy Fundraiser at the Sandtrap - We have had The Chuckleheads come to Beef O'Brady's before (in fact, they are coming again next Friday) and it is always a good time. This coming Sunday, they are doing a special charity fundraiser in honor of a 6 year old Charlotte resident who recently lost her battle to cancer. The show is free but all donations will be go to the Victoria Martinsen Memorial Foundation Cancer Research Fund. If you enjoy improv comedy and audience participation games in the style of "Whose Line is It Anyway?", be sure to come out to the Sandtrap Bar and Billiards located just a few minutes north of Fort Mill at 1923 Westinghouse Boulevard in Charlotte. The show will go from 7-9 PM. I have seen The Chuckleheads several times now and, while every show is totally different (due to the audience inspired ideas), they are always hilarious! Check out their website: www.thechuckleheads.com.

Next Friday, November 13th, Comedy and Karaoke at Beef O'Brady's - Next Friday, Beef O'Brady's will host The Chuckleheads Comedy Troupe from 8-9:30 PM followed by Karaoke until 2 AM. It should be a fantastic night of laughs and gasps as you witness Charlotte's best Improv Comedy Sketch artists around as they present "The Inmates Run The Asylum". Check out their website: www.thechuckleheads.com. This time, the cast members will be allowed to pick their own personal favorite games and sketches as they entertain the always unpredictable audience. The show is free but donations are appreciated. Then, KJ TRY and Chubby's Karaoke will raise the volume and kickstart the Karaoke Night that has made Beef O'Brady's The Fort Mill Times' "Best Place to be on Friday Nights.

(P.S. If you haven't seen the online videos of "The Drunkest Guy Ever", be sure to scroll to the bottom and check out the links I attached. Most people have seen the original video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4F4lmUdPCQ, but the remixes are hysterical.)

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I realize that most of you have seen the following video of what has been deemed the "Drunkest Guy Ever" who is caught on a convenience store security camera trying to buy more beer. It is a very long video and you get the general idea within the first couple of minutes. Here is the original (just keep in mind, what really makes it funny is what other people have done with it.)

Original (Long) Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4F4lmUdPCQ

Here is a very creative Dance Mix using the same footage:

"Club Remix" Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZdFOeIjIiM

I am assuming this has been produced by a very bored film student (still, very funny):

"Silent Film" Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s_40rM_L0s&feature=related

I think this one may be my favorite but only because of the music chosen, not the editing:

"Tragedy Soundtrack" Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS-JX6VnzrY

If you watch the end of the "Tragedy Soundtrack" version you can see how he truly captures the triumph of the human spirit (as he attempts to leave the store. . . .Seriously, he doesn't give up.)

Last Friday's Karaoke Night, October 30th - Last Friday's Karaoke was fantastic as we celebrated Matt C's Birthday and enjoyed a huge influx of people who came after their respective Halloween Parties. It turned out to be a great crowd. Be sure to check out the pictures. We just linked them to BaxterKaraoke.com.

Karaoke at Beef O'Brady's has introduced me to some of the funniest people I have ever met. (Just think about Cindy, Dustin, Blake, C-Money, Kendall, Steve L., Josh and Matt C. for a minute.) The beauty of their sense of humor is that it is usually self-deprecating and always memorable. In honor of Matt C.'s birthday, I made a few motivational posters inspired by a just a few pictures I have collected over the past year. See you guys next Friday night at Beef O'Brady's!

Tonight, October 16th - 2009's Final Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge - This is it!. I have already heard rumors about some of the talented and hilarious performances that are planned for tonight and I must tell you, I am stoked! I think this could be the best Karaoke contest yet. (Be sure to check out previous winners at www.baxterkaraoke.com.) If you have never seen the "YouTube" Karaoke Contest, you must check it out. Beef's and Bud Lime are sponsoring the contest and the Grand Prize winner gets a Play Station 3! (See contest details and rules at the bottom of this email.) Be forewarned, it is an extremely popular event and the place will be packed so if you want a table or seats where you will be able to see the performances, get there early. Krista and I will be be there no later than 7:30 PM. Normal Karaoke will start at 9:00 PM, the cut-off for the Sign-Up for the contest is at 9:30 PM and the Karaoke Challenge will start promptly at 10:00 PM. They will have drink specials and a small bar set up on the patio and, as always, will serve food until 11:00 PM.

Here are the rules again:

- This is it!. I have already heard rumors about some of the talented and hilarious performances that are planned for tonight and I must tell you, I am stoked! I think this could be the best Karaoke contest yet. (Be sure to check out previous winners at

1. Come out to Beef O'Brady's. Karaoke starts at Beef O'Brady's 940 Market Street location in the Village of Baxter in Fort Mill, SC every Friday at 9:00 PM. Tonight you will want to get there early to assure getting a table and a good seat. The house will definitely be packed.

2. Sign Up. In addition to the normal karaoke sign up sheet, on Friday, October 16th there will be a separate "YouTube" Karaoke Contest Sign-Up Sheet and a waiver to allow yourself to be published on YouTube. You will need to have entered your name, and the artist and song selection which you will be performing by 9:30 PM. (Each contestant will be allowed only one entry in the contest, although they may back up other contestants if they so choose.)

3. Perform. After a random draw for the order in which you will perform, the contest will begin promptly at 10:00 PM. You won't know until the drawing in what order you will perform, so be ready to rock out! (Due to the numerous entry's who will bring props, costume changes, etc, the back room behind the karaoke stage will be available before songs as a changing room.)

4. Rock The Vote. After all contestants have performed, they will be reintroduced to the crowd reminding the audience of who sang what. Then, ballots will be handed out to all of the patrons giving each member of the audience and the contestants themselves an opportunity to vote for their individual choices for first, second and third place in the competition. (Each ballot needs to have three different names for each place; otherwise, they will be discarded.) This is very important! This means, if you are going to enter the competition, besides memorizing your lyrics, getting your costume prepared and character ready, it is in your best interest to invite as many people as you possibly can to come cheer you on and vote for you.

5. Wait for the secret judges input. In the crowd, there will also be at least one impartial secret judge who will be able to add 10 points to the competitor's scores as they see fit based on vocal talent, stage presence and overall Karaoke performance. (This is to keep the contest from simply being a popularity contest.)

6. Collect your prize. The contestant's videos will be linked to www.Youtube.com/baxterkaraoke and the top three places' videos will be linked to baxterkaraoke.com. (Check out the top three winners from January's, April's and July's "YouTube" Karaoke Challenge now at http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html). Thanks to co-sponsors Beef O'Brady's and Bud Lime, 1st place will get a Playstation 3 and the Guitar Hero World Tour game (these retail for over $400.00). The 2nd and 3rd prize details are in the blog section of baxterkaraoke.com.

The countdown has begun. The October 16th Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge is only about two weeks away! Of course, every Friday night is Karaoke Night at Beef O'Brady's in Fort Mill, SC. (I am looking forward to getting back this Friday after having been out of town for two straight weeks.) But the YouTube Karaoke Contest only happens about once a quarter and this will be the last official challenge in 2009. (See the rules at bottom of this email.) If you haven't experienced it, you don't know what you are missing. (Check out previous performances at www.baxterkaraoke.com.)

Once again, the Prizes are phenomenal (Thank you Beef O'Brady's and Bud Lime!):

Third Place: Your Video will be on YouTube and linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. A pitcher of Beer. A Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate. A Budweiser Roller Cooler. - Sweet!

2nd Place: Your Video will be on YouTube and linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. A Pitcher of Beer. A Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate. A Budweiser RockBox Cooler. - Awesome!

1st Place: Your Video will be on YouTube and linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. A Pitcher of Beer. A Brand New 120 GB Playstation 3 with Guitar Hero World Tour!!! . . . Are you #@*&ing me? GET THE $#%* OUT OF HERE!!!

Whether you will be just an observer or a participant, you will not want to miss this event. You only have two more Friday nights to practice. I'll see you there!

The YouTube Karaoke Challenge: What do I have to do and how does it work?

1. Come out to Beef O'Brady's. Karaoke starts at Beef O'Brady's 940 Market Street location in the Village of Baxter in Fort Mill, SC every Friday at 9:00 PM. On October 16th, you will want to get there early to assure getting a table and a good seat.  The house will definitely be packed.

2. Sign Up.  In addition to the normal karaoke sign up sheet, on Friday, October 16th there will be a separate "YouTube" Karaoke Contest Sign-Up Sheet and a waiver to allow yourself to be published on YouTube. You will need to have entered your name, and the artist and song selection which you will be performing by 9:30 PM. (Each contestant will be allowed only one entry in the contest, although they may back up other contestants if they so choose.)

3. Perform. After a random draw for the order in which you will perform, the contest will begin promptly at 10:00 PM.  You won't know until the drawing in what order you will perform, so be ready to rock out! (Due to the numerous entry's who will bring props, costume changes, etc, the back room behind the karaoke stage will be available before songs as a changing room.)

4. Rock The Vote.   After all contestants have performed, they will be reintroduced to the crowd reminding the audience of who sang what. Then, ballots will be handed out to all of the patrons giving each member of the audience and the contestants themselves an opportunity to vote for their individual choices for first, second and third place in the competition. (Each ballot needs to have three different names for each place; otherwise, they will be discarded.) This is very important! This means, if you are going to enter the competition, besides memorizing your lyrics, getting your costume prepared and character ready, it is in your best interest to invite as many people as you possibly can to come cheer you on and vote for you.

5. Wait for the secret judges input. In the crowd, there will also be at least one impartial secret judge who will be able to add 10 points to the competitor's scores as they see fit based on vocal talent, stage presence and overall Karaoke performance. (This is to keep the contest from simply being a popularity contest.)

6. Collect your prize.    The contestant's videos will be linked to www.Youtube.com/baxterkaraoke and the top three places' videos will be linked to baxterkaraoke.com. (Check out the top three winners from January's, April's and July's "YouTube" Karaoke Challenge now at http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html). Thanks to co-sponsors Beef O'Brady's and Bud Lime, 1st place will get a Playstation 3 and the Guitar Hero World Tour game (these retail for over $400.00).   The 2nd and 3rd prize details are in the blog section of baxterkaraoke.com.

Once again, please pass this along to all your friends and other people you know who can sing and/or perform. This could be the best karaoke contest in human history!!! (At the least it will be a lot of fun and extremely entertaining.)  As usual, Beef O'Brady's will be serving their $12 Budweiser Beer Buckets and their $4.25 "Karaoke Fuel" (Vodka-RedBull) Drinks and $5 Loaded Land Shark's. Plus the Kitchen will be open until 11:00 PM.  Be sure to try their Sliders and the Fried Pickles. Be there!

September 12th, 2009 - I spoke with the owner of the Fort Mill Beef O'Brady's tonight and found out the Grand Prize going to the winner of the October 16th, 2009 Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge will be different than what I told you a couple of days ago. Instead of an Xbox 360 Elite, the winner of the Karaoke Contest will win a new Playstation 3 with the Guitar Hero World Tour game.  As most of you know, the Playstation 3 is also a Blu-Ray Player so, besides being an awesome gaming system, it actually serves a dual purpose. (See the description below.) I will let you know what the other prizes for the second and third place winners will be as I get more information.

With the PlayStation®3 120GB system, you get free PlayStation®Network membership, built-in Wi-Fi and 120GB of hard disk drive storage for games, music, videos and photos. And every PS3™ system comes with a built-in Blu-ray player to give you pristine picture quality and the best high-definition viewing experience available. Whether it's gaming, Blu-ray movies, music or online services, experience it all with the PlayStation®3 system.

So, suffice it to say, the October 16th competition will be the biggest and most competitive YouTube Karaoke Challenge yet. (Check out past "YouTube Night" winners at http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html.) That means you have about four weeks to get your song picked, your lyrics memorized and costume prepared and your gimmicks planned. In addition, since it will be audience votes that will seal your fate, it is never too early to begin campaigning to get your friends and family to come out and support you with their votes. Believe Me. They will have an awesome time and you might win a freakin' PS3! So get started!

Meanwhile, there are only about four more Fridays to run through your material in front of a crowd to practice and see how they respond. These will be critical weeks.

By the way, this past Friday's Karaoke night ended up being pretty crazy! We even got to see Baxter Resident/Rock Star/Attorney, Ryan M., give a killer performance. That guy can sing. As the night went on, the crowd's antics began to escalate (as they often do at Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's Karaoke Night.) Be sure to check out the pictures that were just uploaded and linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. Oh, yeah. If any of you have pics of the fountain dip that apparently took place post-2 AM, be sure and send them my way. I'd love to see them.

Friday, September 11th - Karaoke Night - Yes. I'll admit it. We got lucky and ended up with the best KJ when Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's landed TRY with Chubby's Karaoke. But that doesn't mean we can let leaked information (such as the fact that his mother and extended family will be in town this weekend and attending this Friday night's show) go without consequence. "Why?", you ask. Because I know we have the best Karaoke crowd in the business and on Friday nights when people ask how far will they go, deep down inside they really don't want to know the answer. So this Friday, I believe we should treat TRY's family to the "Best Of" show they deserve (Tiffany, where is Two Live Crew when we need it?; Dustin, it's time to bring "Flashdance" back; Cindy C, We only know what type of man you don't want when you sing it to us. Matt, sing us the one again about your "Piece of $*#t Car.") So, this week, it is time to bring the heat!!! I can't wait to see what you guys work up. Karaoke starts at 9:00 PM and food is served until 11:00 PM. Don't forget to ask them about drink specials as Beef's has now begun serving shots.

Last Week's Karaoke (Sep 4th)- While I'll admit, last week's karaoke was on the low-attendance side, it was still pretty fun. Make sure you check out pics on www.baxterkaraoke.com. In fact, if you don't look at anything else, check out the picture we have of Scott D. and Len T. with a friend of theirs who was visiting from out of town posted as our pic of the week . Here's the link: http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Pictures.html. Yep. That's a classic.

See You Friday Night!

Joel B.

P.S. Don't forget. The next Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge will be Friday, October 16th, 2009. Mark your calendars. You won't want to miss it!

Also, I got a pretty good response from last week's motivational posters, so here are a few more that happen to actually be music related:

Friday, September 4th - Karaoke Night!!! - If you are like me, when you hear the words, "Labor Day Weekend", you probably think one thing: Karaoke at Beef's. That's right, the world's greatest KJ, TRY, will be cranking the tunes up Friday Night helping you jumpstart your weekend with a great party that happens every Friday night at the Fort Mill Beef O'Brady's. Last weekend had one of the best crowds we have had in a while. (I don't know why, but every time Jen B. shows up, people hit the dance floor.) It was a blast! Be sure and check out the pictures from last Friday by going to www.baxterkaraoke.com. Karaoke starts at 9:00 PM and typically goes strong until about 1:00 AM.

- If you are like me, when you hear the words, "Labor Day Weekend", you probably think one thing: Karaoke at Beef's. That's right, the world's greatest KJ, TRY, will be cranking the tunes up Friday Night helping you jumpstart your weekend with a great party that happens every Friday night at the Fort Mill Beef O'Brady's. Last weekend had one of the best crowds we have had in a while. (I don't know why, but every time Jen B. shows up, people hit the dance floor.) It was a blast! Be sure and check out the pictures from last Friday by going to

Don't Forget: The next "Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge will be on Friday, October 16th so start working on your material. Once again, the prizes will be awesome and the competition will be heated!

And finally, if that doesn't motivate you, below are a few motivational posters to give you the extra push you may need. Check them out.

Joel

Friday, August 21st- Karaoke Night - After missing last Friday's "Comedy & Karaoke Night", I'm looking forward to getting back to Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's this Friday. I have heard The Chuckleheads were hilarious (they even incorporated some of C-Money's "beatboxing") and Karaoke afterwards was huge. Some pics from last week's Karaoke portion have been uploaded to www.baxterkaraoke.com. (Thanks Wendy!) If anyone has any pictures from the Chuckleheads show last Friday, I would love to see them. Those of you who were at Karaoke last Friday night, count yourself lucky. Apparently, for the first time, Michael Hipskind (our YouTube Night camera guy) rocked the mic. Also, I was looking at some of the lyrics in the pictures, and I'm not sure, but I think one of the pictures has the lovely (pregnant and due any day) Tiffany singing a 2 Live Crew Cover . . .So it appears I picked a really bad night to miss. This Friday promises to be a repeat though. I know Matt, Cindy, Dustin, Glen and Michael will all be back in the house so at least we know it should be entertaining. I'm thinking I might break out some new stuff as well. KJ TRY will kick things off at 9:00 PM. I can't wait to see you all there!

- After missing last Friday's "Comedy & Karaoke Night", I'm looking forward to getting back to Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's this Friday. I have heard The Chuckleheads were hilarious (they even incorporated some of C-Money's "beatboxing") and Karaoke afterwards was huge. Some pics from last week's Karaoke portion have been uploaded to

One More Thing . . .The Date for the next Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge has been set. We will blow the doors off of Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's on Friday, October 16th. Mark your calendars and be ready to perform. This promises to be the most hilarious and shocking Karaoke Challenge to date. You won't want to miss it! More details will be coming.

P.S. In honor of Woodstock's anniversary and knowing how much you guys love classic rock, I have included a link to a 1969 Woodstock Performance by Joe Cocker with subtitle's for those watching who aren't in an altered state. Funny stuff! Check it out: http://www.elwp.com/Joe Cocker.html

www.baxterkaraoke.com

Uniting People Who Shouldn't Drink . . .
           With People Who Shouldn't Sing . . .
                     With People Who Shouldn't Have
                               Video Cameras.
                                         BaxterKaraoke.com

Friday, August 14th

Friday, August 14th Comedy & Karaoke - After a few months hiatus, Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's 5th Quarter room will double again as a Comedy Club and Karaoke Room this Friday night starting at 8:00 PM. If you have never seen The Chucklehead's, this is your chance to check them out right here in Fort Mill, for free! (Donations will be accepted.) If you are a fan of Second City style comedy, you will want to check these guys out. I realize comedy is a personal choice, but I can say The Chuckleheads is one of the best improv comedy troupes I have ever seen anywhere. So make sure you come out early, get a good table, order some food and drinks (important part of any comedy show) and get ready to laugh. (Speaking of food, if you haven't tried them yet, the Fort Mill Beef O'Brady's has some of the best fried pickles I have ever had and their sliders are simply the best.) The Chuckleheads perform hilarious audience-driven improvisational sketches and music along the lines of the television show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" If you aren't sure, check them out at www.thechuckleheads.com.

Of course, filling the room with comedians and people who enjoy laughing typically bleeds into some of the most entertaining nights on record that Beef O'Brady's has had in past Karaoke nights. So stick around and sign up early, as Chubby's Karaoke's (KJ TRY will begin pumping the house out karaoke tunes at 9:30 PM. I have attended these Comedy and Karaoke nights in the past and it typically gets crazier as the night goes on so be prepared for a late one. You won't want to miss the late night action. (Late night action stories typically begin with "You won't believe what _________ did last night at Karaoke?") You actually may be able to go back in the photo archives and see some past pics from previous karaoke nights with The Chuckleheads at www.baxterkaraoke.com. Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's is located at 940 Market Street, Fort Mill, SC 29708.

(P.S. Chubby's Karaoke and KJ TRY also sponsor the coolest Bar Trivia contest around and they happen every Wednesday night starting at 8:30 PM. Drink, Laugh, Learn and Win prizes! Last Wednesday, Dustin R., whom you may know as BaxterKaraoke.com's first YouTube Karaoke Challenge Winner, proved that knowing 14 uncommon nuggets of information about Johnny Depp wasn't creepy at all . . . simply information you need to know in order to win 4 fifth row tickets behind the batters box at a Charlotte Knights game.)

Tuesday, July 28th

To all of you who came out on Friday night, thank you for making the July 24th Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge another incredible success. Pictures from the night and the top three vote-getters from the contest are linked to http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Home.html and can be viewed now. (Just go to the Karaoke Videos tab.) Make sure you check them out.

There were fantastic performances by everyone from every genre and all of the performances will be uploaded to the baxterkaraoke YouTube channel over the next few days. (You can also access the BaxterKaraoke YouTube channel through http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Home.html.)

In the end though, the contest came down to the King of Pop Vs. The King of Rock and Roll. Kendall ended up with 1st Place and won the Nintendo Wii with RockBand 2 after performing a hilariously choreographed version of Michael Jackson's "Beat It". Josh came in a very close second with his jumpsuited version of Elvis' "Burning Love" and walked away with the Budweiser "RockBox". Finally, a distinctively tatted-up, Amy Winehouse mimicking Deb R. took third place with her cover of "Rehab" which she followed up with an announcement that she is pregnant. . . she wants us to believe that the liquor bottle from which she is drinking is only iced tea. Deb won a roller cooler which will be handy to lug around Mama's "iced tea". Thanks to Beef O'Brady's and Bud Lime for sponsoring such a cool event and the incredible prizes. If you appreciate the effort they are putting into the evening, make sure you support Beef's and start drinking more Budweiser products. (My liver is telling me I am doing my part.)

I also want to extend a special thanks to all that performed! You all put a ton of time into preparation and frankly, you were all fantastic. I am looking forward to seeing all of your videos as they are uploaded over the next few days and I can't wait to see what you all come up with for the next YouTube Karaoke Challenge in October! You definitely don't want to miss it.

Performer/Song Title/Artist - Place (Based on Audience votes)

Kendall/Beat It/Michael Jackson - (First Place)

Josh (J-Money)/Burning Love/Elvis --(Second Place)

Deb/Rehab/Amy Winehouse (Third Place)

Tiffany ("Mamma T.)/Rapper's Delight/Sugar Hill Gang (Fourth Place)

Jen B./Brass Monkey/Beastie Boys (Fifth Place)

PS. Don't forget to come out for Chubby's Trivia every Wednesday Night at Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's. Bring your friends out and win some great prizes while showing off your useless knowledge of history, music, pop culture, sports and science. KJ TRY holds the best bar trivia contest around and it starts at 8:30 PM in the 5th Quarter room.

Saturday, July 18th

OK, Guys. The Contest is a week away. Next Friday, June 24th, 2009 at Beef O'Brady's on Market Street in Fort Mill, SC, the Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge will happen. And, it is this easy. The contestants must prepare their performance, enter the contest (9:30 PM cut-off), pack the house with loyal fans who are ready, willing and able to vote for them, and then bring the house down with a song people love. And then, after the audience votes, the winner will not only walk away with the fame of being immortalized on baxterkaraoke.com via YouTube, but thanks to the new sponsor of the Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge, Bud Lime, they will will go home with a fantastic prize as well. (Check out our winners from the January and April contests at http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html.) The prizes will be as follows:

3rd Place: Your Video will be on YouTube and linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. A pitcher of Beer. A Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate. A Budweiser Roller Cooler. - Sweet!

2nd Place: Your Video will be on YouTube and linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. A Pitcher of Beer. A Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate. A Budweiser RockBox Cooler. - Awesome!

1st Place: Your Video will be on YouTube and linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. A Pitcher of Beer. A Nintendo Wii & RockBand 2!!! . . . GET THE $#%* OUT OF HERE!!! Freakin' Amazing!

Thank you, Bud Lime!!!

You don't want to miss this event!!! This is truly anyone's game. Just make sure you bring a crowd and make it your night!

Please pass this along. . . "To whom?" you ask?. Everyone in your address book.

Oh yeah. We have T-shirts to commemorate the event. They're $15 and profits from them will help us buy a camera with a better audio input. You can get them at Beef O'Brady's:

Friday, July 17th

Tonight: Karaoke will kick start at 9:00 PM. Come out early. Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's will feature live music for about an hour before KJ TRY starts Karaoke. It is officially the countdown to next week's Beef O'Brady's Karaoke Challenge. (See the rules below.) Bud Lime and Beef O'Brady's are sponsoring the event and the fantastic prizes: 1st Place will win a Nintendo Wii & RockBand 2; 2nd Place will win a Budweiser RockBox (Cooler/Radio) & a Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate; 3rd Place will win a Budweiser Roller Cooler & a Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate. Of course, all three will each get a celebratory pitcher of Budweiser Beer to celebrate the evening with their friends. (Thank You Bud Lime!) See you tonight! (On Saturday: Don't forget to help support Karaoke All-Star Cindy C.'s 2nd Anni-fur-sary Sale tomorrow. We'll definitely be bringing the dogs up to Wags of Baxter on Saturday).

JB

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Friday Night, July 17th - Karaoke Night - OK. Last Friday was a blast. For those of you who missed it, I posted pics (at least most of them) up on www.baxterkaraoke.com to commemorate the night. I am hoping Matt and Cindy will pull out their numbers from this past week in the future. Everyone has got to see their latest stuff. . . it is absolutely hilarious! With only a week to go until the next YouTube Contest (Friday, July 24th), I am thinking there will be a good number of people out practicing their stuff this Friday. (See the promo below and to learn more about the Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge, go to www.baxterkaraoke.com and read JB's Blog.) Don't forget, a Nintendo Wii and RockBand 2 is up for grabs, so you are going to want to bring the heat. A warm-up can't hurt. See you Friday. KJ TRY will kick things off at Beef O'Brady's in Fort Mill at 9:00 PM.

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Wednesday, July 8th Trivia Night - Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's will have their third "Trivia Night" of the summer this Wednesday starting at 8:30 PM. If you've got the guts, come out and check it out. It's fun, fast and competitive. TRY has done a fantastic job keeping it challenging and entertaining and I am doing my best to help them market it simply because I'm hoping Beef's will keep it going. Give it a try and I think you'll find a new past-time for Wednesday nights here in Fort Mill. Or, if you know some trivia buffs, please pass this along.

This Friday, July 10th, Karaoke Night - After missing last Friday's "Karaoke Night" (the first one I have missed in months), I am looking forward to getting back to Beef O'Brady's. I got a handful of pics emailed to me from last Friday and I loaded them up on Baxterkaraoke.com. If any of you took any others you would like to have loaded up, please send them to me. See you this Friday!

"Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge", Friday, July 24th - If you haven't already heard, the greatest karaoke contest in human history is now less than 3 weeks away. I have heard about many of your ideas and cannot wait to see them live and in person. This will definitely be a hilarious competition filled with incredible talent and I think it is anyone's game to win. Bud Lime and Beef O'Brady's has confirmed that the grand prize will be the Nintendo Wii and RockBand 2. The rules will be the same as the January and April YouTube Contests. (See Below.) I think there will be a significant number of contestants. Please remember, contestants need to be at Beef O'Brady's no later than 9:30 PM to enter the contest.

Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge T-shirts - Show your support for the event that has helped make Beef O'Brady's the Best Place to be on Friday Nights. The T-Shirts are $15 and come in the white baby-doll style (S, M, L) and in beige regular T-shirts (M, L, XL). The regular style T-shirts have the BaxterKaraoke.com slogan on the back. The baby-style shirt does not have the BaxterKaraoke.com slogan on the back. The goal is to sell enough of the shirts to make enough to buy a new video camera that can be wired to the soundboard. If you are interested in buying a shirt, feel free to email me with the size and style you would prefer or simply go to Beef O'Brady's and where they are stocked and ready for purchase.

Beef O'Brady's YouTube Karaoke Challenge - July 24th

What do I have to do and how does it work?

1. Come out to Beef O'Brady's. Karaoke starts at Beef O'Brady's 940 Market Street location in the Village of Baxter in Fort Mill, SC every Friday at 9:00 PM. On July 24th, you will want to get there early to assure getting a table and a good seat. The house will definitely be packed.

2. Sign Up. In addition to the normal karaoke sign up sheet, on Friday, July 24th there will be a separate "YouTube" Karaoke Contest Sign-Up Sheet and a waiver to be published on YouTube. You will need to have entered your name, and the artist and song selection which you will be performing by 9:30 PM. (Each contestant will be allowed only one entry in the contest, although they may back up other contestants if they so choose.)

4. Rock The Vote. After all contestants have performed, they will be reintroduced to the crowd reminding the audience of who sang what. Then, ballots will be handed out to all of the patrons giving each member of the audience and the contestants themselves an opportunity to vote for their individual choices for first, second and third place in the competition. (Each ballot needs to have three different names for each place; otherwise, they will be discarded.) This is very important! This means, if you are going to enter the competition, besides memorizing your lyrics, getting your costume prepared and character ready, it is in your best interest to invite as many people as you possibly can to come cheer you on and vote for you.

5. Wait for the secret judges input. In the crowd, there will also be at least one objective secret judge who will be able to add 10 points to the competitor's scores as they see fit based on vocal talent, stage presence and overall Karaoke performance. (We added this last time to keep the contest from simply being a popularity contest.)

6. Collect your prize. The contestant's videos will be linked to www.Youtube.com/baxterkaraoke and the top three places' videos will be linked to baxterkaraoke.com. (Check out the top three winners from January's and April's "YouTube" Karaoke Challenge now at http://www.baxterkaraoke.com/Videos.html ). Of course, I already mentioned 1st place will get a Wii and the Rock Band 2 game (these retail for over $400.00). There will be prizes for 2nd and 3rd place as well.

Once again, please pass this along to all your friends and other people you know who can sing and/or perform. This could be the best karaoke contest in human history!!! (At the least it will be a lot of fun and extremely entertaining.) As usual, Beef O'Brady's will be serving their $12 Beer Buckets and their $4.25 "Karaoke Fuel" (Vodka-RedBull) Drinks. Plus the Kitchen will be open until 11:00 PM. Try their Sliders and Buffallo Shrimp. Be there!

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Last Friday, June 26th "Karaoke Night" - I haven't been commenting lately on the previous week's Karaoke night but last Friday was the strangest (and coolest) night of karaoke I have attended in a while. I arrived late (as usual) at 9:30 PM and was one of three people in the room which, of course, didn't stop me from signing up to sing. By 10:30 PM, the room was half full. Then by 11:00 PM, the floodgates opened and it turned into one of the craziest parties of the karaoke season (which runs from Jan 1st to December 30th.) The place was truly packed. I am not sure whether last Friday's Karaoke night success was due to the three birthdays that were being celebrated, or that one of Baxter's hottest residents brought her bachelorette party to karaoke, or even that a community "ladies night" apparently ended up at Beef O'Brady's at the end of a long night of drinking. However, while legally it was questionable and morally, it was disgusting; personally, I liked it. And that being said, you never know what is going to happen late-night on Karaoke night. Pictures (most of them) from the last two Fridays have been posted to www.baxterkaraoke.com on the "Karaoke Pics" link. I am going to try to get better about getting pics up each week and will begin having a BaxterKaraoke.com's "Pic of the Week" from the previous week's "Karaoke Night."

This Wednesday, July 1st "Trivia Night" - Last week was the inaugural night when Chubby's brought their audio/video experience to the fine art of a Bar Trivia Challenge at Beef O'Brady's in Fort Mill. Everyone who attended was blown away. Not only was it a ton of fun, but it was fast-paced (we got 4 rounds through in the same amount of time as it took us to do 2 rounds in the old format), had high-energy and the music and video, it was engaging. If you and your friends think you have what it takes, bring your team of geniuses out this week and join the challenge. Last week's categories were Toys, Television, History: True or False, and Movie Titles (a Picture round). He even threw in a bonus "Family Guy" Round. I think when the word spreads about the New and Improved "Trivia Night", this will be another big night for Baxter. Trivia starts at 8:30 PM.

This Friday, July 3rd "Karaoke Night" - Come on out to Beef O'Brady's in Baxter and join the fun. This will be a huge weekend for our community with parades, pool games, cook-outs and fireworks. There is no better way to kick-start your weekend with an American tradition of Budweiser (a new sponsor of Beef O'Brady's upcoming "YouTube Karaoke Challenge" on July 24th), Cheeseburgers, and a crowd sing-along to a karaoke version of Neil Diamond's "America". KJ TRY will get Karaoke started at 9:00 PM. Have a safe 4th of July weekend. (Please take pictures this weekend and send them to me. I'll be sure to get them posted on www.baxterkaraoke.com. Thank you Jen B. for taking the awesome shots you did the last two weekends.)

Thursday, April 9th -

Last Week's Karaoke, April 3rd -- It was another rocking night last weekend at karaoke. If having Jen Belk, Dustin, Steve and Cindy in the same Karaoke room isn't enough, the crowd was kicked up another 5 notches when "Pat Gray and friends" brought his Birthday party to Beef O'Brady's. Dustin rocked the house with a cover of the Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla". Cindy and Matt Curtis threw down the gauntlet when Cindy did Technotronic's "Move This" and Matt performed a spot-on version of "Bad Touch" by Bloodhound Gang. Deb Rapa and TRY did a fantastic cover of Prince's "1999." Cindy S. performed Aqua's "Barbie Girl" (Congratulations on the pregnancy, Cindy S!) Pics will be linked up to www.baxterkaraoke.com soon. Karaoke night is definitely ramping up for the upcoming YouTube Karaoke Contest on April 24th. I can't wait to see what everyone brings as their number.

This Thursday Night - April 9th - If you like live music while you kick back with a beer and a good burger, Matt Stratford will be playing at Beef O'Brady's this Thursday from 7-10 PM. If you haven't heard him, you need to check him out. He is fantastic and he even hands out a list of the songs he knows so you can request your favorite's.

This Friday - April 10th - IT'S KARAOKE NIGHT!! I can assure you that this weekend at Beef O'Brady's will also include an awesome Karaoke Night. This Friday, Karaoke "Rock Stars", Jen and Michael Belk are going to be there with a huge crowd of family and friends! Make sure you request her version of "Ice, Ice Baby" and get Michael to break out his own "Humpty Dance". I even heard Karaoke's Hard Rock Legend, Glen Buckner was going to be in the house and breaking out some songs to show off his "softer side". Either way, you can't lose. KJ TRY with Chubby's Karaoke will get the show started at 9:00 PM. (By the way, don't forget to tip TRY. If you have been around the Karaoke circuit, you will quickly recognize that Beef's has the best KJ in the country. We are lucky to have him.) The kitchen serves until 11:00 PM so there is plenty of time to get sliders, Buffalo shrimp, and quesadilla's. Also, besides their beer specials, Beef's is now serving Vodka-Red Bull (or, "Karaoke Fuel") for only $4.25.

*******************************

Coming Up - Friday, April 24th - Beef O'Brady's "YouTube" Karaoke Contest - If you like Karaoke, you do not want to miss this one. Beef O'Brady's along with sponsor, Miller Lite is pulling out all the stops! Besides getting your video uploaded to YouTube and linked to www.BaxterKaraoke.com, this week we found out the grand prize will be a Nintendo Wii with the Wii Version of Rock Band 2. (A Nintendo Wii Retails for $249 and Rock Band 2 alone costs $189. . . . This is serious stuff.) Anyone can enter the competition. You just need to be ready to rock the crowd. (Be sure to check out the videos featured on BaxterKaraoke.com and at http://www.youtube.com/baxterkaraoke to see what the last competition brought on January 30th.) In brief, all competitors will sign up on a separate sign-up sheet by 9:30 PM, and the competition will begin at 10:00 PM. The contestant's order will be picked randomly. Only one singer will be named as a contestant at a time. So, for example, if Matt C sings a song and Cindy C backs him up, that is Matt's entry in the competition. If Cindy then sings and Matt backs her up, that will count as her contest entry. There will be a brief break between songs to give the contestants time for costume changes if they so choose. After all of the contestants have performed, they will be reintroduced to the crowd so they remember the singer and song performed by each contestant. Then, ballots will be handed out to all of the patrons giving each member of the audience and the contestants themselves an opportunity to vote for their individual choices for first, second and third place in the competition. (Each ballot needs to have three different names for each place; otherwise, they will be discarded.) This means, if you are going to enter the competition, besides memorizing your lyrics, getting your costume prepared and character ready, it is in your best interest to invite as many people as you possibly can to come cheer you on and vote for you. Like last time, in the crowd, there will also be at least one objective secret judge who will be able to add points to the competitor's scores as they see fit. If the last competition was any example, this will be an entertaining night filled with laughs, cheers and singing. Be there!

. . . . And now some graphs . . . .

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Tuesday, April 6th -

The Top Three Reasons to enter, compete, and bring as many of your friends as possible to vote for you at April 24th's Beef O'Brady's "YouTube Karaoke Contest":

3rd Prize will be a 48 Can Miller Lite Cooler and $10 Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate (Plus Fame and Fortune as your live performance will be linked to BaxterKaraoke.com via YouTube)

2nd Prize will be a Kickstand Golf Bag and a $15 Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificate (Plus Fame and Fortune as your live performance will be linked to BaxterKaraoke.com via YouTube)

1st Prize will be a Nintendo Wii Game Console with the Wii Special Edition of Rock Band 2 (Plus Fame and Fortune as your live performance will be linked to BaxterKaraoke.com via YouTube)!

More Details to follow . . . . . . . A Freakin' Wii . . . . . . With Rock Band 2 !?!?!?

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Friday, February 6th - Karaoke is back on at Beef O'Brady's on Market Street in Fort Mill at 9:00 PM. After an incredible Karaoke contest last week, I am looking forward to a little more relaxed night this week. If you haven't seen the winners of last Friday's "Youtube" Karaoke Contest, make sure you check out their videos on www.baxterkaraoke.com. (By the way, we will have some excellent still pictures of the contest linked up to Baxterkaraoke.com very soon.) Congratulations to Dustin, Samantha and Tiffany for their wins last week. The competition was amazing and the audience voting was extremely close. By the way, we have scheduled our next "Youtube" Karaoke Contest for April 24th (the last Friday in April), so mark your calendars, get your costumes ready and start practicing-up your song selections! I don't think the competition is going to get any easier. Meanwhile, we'll see you Friday for another great night of Baxter Karaoke! (Make sure you get there early to eat and, if you haven't yet, try the sliders. They are the best!)

Friday, February 13th - Come out and laugh for a good cause! Next Friday, Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's will be presenting Charlotte's Best Improv Comedy troupe, The Chuckleheads (www.thechuckleheads.com), as they host a free show in the style of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" to help raise money for the Connor McKemey Family. Connor is a Tega Cay teen who suffered 3rd degree burns over 85% of his body after an outdoor fireplace accident over Christmas. Connor is currently in a medically induced coma at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia. The Chuckleheads typically charge an admission for their unique brand of improvisational sketch comedy and audience-participation games. When they heard about the needs of the McKemey family, they generously offered to perform next Friday at Beef O'Brady's from 8-9:30 PM and ask that the audience simply come with a good sense of humor and an open wallet. All donations will be given to the McKemey Medical Fund and Beef O'Bradys will be matching the first $150 received. (Checks can be made to the McKemey Medical Fund.) I have seen a lot of improv comedy and The Chuckleheads are top notch. You will definitely have a laugh-packed night! Please pass this on to anyone else you know who might have an interest in live comedy and we'll pack the house and hopefully raise a few bucks to help a local family in need. Karaoke will start immediately after at 9:30 PM and go till 1:30 AM if you want to hang around after the comedy show.

. . . Finally, I have no graphjams this week. So, as a public service, I thought this week I would share with you a few True Facts about the World's Greatest Human: Chuck Norris . . . . .*

Fact: The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

Fact: Chuck Norris choked an estimated 400,000 Vietcong to death in 1985.

Fact: Chuck Norris, when clean-shaven, radiates the heat of three suns.

Fact: Chuck Norris had no costars on the set of Walker, Texas Ranger. He played every role, even the hot chick.

Fact: Chuck Norris can grate fresh Parmesan cheese with his rust-red beard.

Fact: Chuck Norris is just like you and me: He puts his pants on one leg at a time. Except when he puts his pants on, he fights North Koreans.

Fact: When Chuck Norris was denied a McGriddle at McDonald's because it was 10:35, he roundhouse kicked the store so hard, it became a Wendy's.

Fact: As well as being an actor, martial artist, and a poet, Chuck Norris is also a world-renowned physicist. It was in this capacity that he once had a disagreement about steady-state theory with Stephen Hawking. . . Hence the wheelchair.

Fact: Chuck Norris takes a baseball bat into the bathroom with him in case he craps out a wildcat and has to beat it to death.

Fact: A blind man once stepped on Chuck Norris's shoe. Chuck said, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Chuck Norris!" The mere mention of his name cured this man's blindness. Sadly the first, last, and only thing this man ever saw was a fatal roundhouse kick delivered by Chuck Norris.

Fact: Originally Chuck Norris was going to be hired to play the role of Jack Bauer on the show 24. The producers changed their minds when they realized the show would last only 17 minutes.

Fact: Chuck Norris's real name is Switchblade Killingworth. He changed it to Chuck Norris because it sounded tougher.

Fact: Chuck Norris was the fourth wise man. He brought baby Jesus the gift of "beard." Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day. The other wise men, jealous of Chuck, used their combined influence to have him omitted from the Bible. Shortly thereafter, all three died roundhouse kick-related deaths.

Fact: Chuck Norris swears he didn't sleep with your wife. Yes, it is strange that your children show an affinity for Texas justice and beard cultivation. No, Chuck Norris does not know why your wife demands you wear a karate uniform whenever you are intimate. Chuck Norris thinks you are asking the kind of questions a person asks when they want to be roundhouse kicked in the face.

(*All of the above facts have been documented in New York Times Bestseller "The Truth about Chuck Norris" by Ian Spector, available at a bookstore near you.)

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THURSDAY, 01/22/2009 -

Last Friday, Jan 16th, 2009 - 90% of the crowd at Beef O'Brady's in Baxter last night, I have never seen before, but I have to say the talent was phenomenal. It was a night filled with incredible voices, great song choices, and new Karaoke Rock Star, Dustin. Guys, this guy rocked the house. He kick-started it with Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give It Away", but it was his Flashdance tribute, "Maniac", that brought the house down. Dustin will be back for Youtube night and I have a feeling he will be a tough act to beat. Check out the pics that are now posted on www.baxterkaraoke.com.

Friday, January 30th - YouTube Night - It has been rumored for weeks, but we have a firm date! The last Friday of January, Beef O'Brady's Karaoke Night will have it's first "Youtube" Night. At approximately 10:30 PM, the Karaoke night will briefly turn into a Karaoke Contest. Each contestant/group/couple will be able to perform one song of their choosing. Their performance can be as colorful and animated as they want. This is the time when you may even want to break out the matching costume, come up with a dance routine and memorize the lyrics in advance. These performances will be video recorded. Then, the crowd will vote on their favorite performances and the top three crowd favorites will not only win fantastic prizes (courtesy of Beef O'Brady's), but their videos will be uploaded to Youtube and linked to baxterkaraoke.com. This has Cindy C., Blake (of Divinyl's fame) and C-money written all over it. I can't wait to see what people break out. So mark your calendars and start practicing. This is what should kick Baxter's Karaoke night up a notch or two (or take it into the gutter . . . time will tell).

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THURSDAY, 12/18/2008 -

Karaoke Night, Friday, December 19th - We'll see you guys tomorrow night at Beef O'Brady's for Karaoke Night. KJ TRY will get it started at 9:00 PM as usual. I am hearing it should be a busy night so get there early to get a good seat.

Last week, Charlotte's improv comedy troupe, The Chuckleheads, kick-started the festivities with hilarious performances and some great audience-participation games. (www.thechuckleheads.com) Believe it or not, I laughed more at their show than the last two times I saw Second City. If they can get them to come back, I encourage all of you to fit it in your schedule. You will have a blast! The crowd was apparently primed as Karaoke was rockin' until 2:00 AM (I am thinking the new bar servings are helping), and many joined us later following their respective Christmas Parties. Check out the pictures as Scott G. now has the a facebook linked to www.baxterkaraoke.com. When you go to the main page, you will click on "Karaoke Pics & Movies" , then click on the date, "December 12, 2008" and you will see some of the pictures that were taken. (If you see Michael Hipskind at Karaoke, buy him a drink. He has been very helpful catching some of the best moments at Karaoke night with his camera and sending them to us.) We should get many of the best old pictures up on the site very soon.

NEW YEARS EVE, Wednesday, January 31st -

I am re-attaching this 5th Quarter New Years Eve Party Flyer and resending it out. If you have friends who you are wanting to be able to get tickets make sure you forward this to them and encourage them to go ahead and get their tickets by this weekend.

If you are also planning on going, please don't wait to buy tickets. I know a ton of people who are going to be at this event and this is going to be an awesome party. This event is being catered by Baxter Catering and their food is fantastic. This will sell out.

Let's face it. A person couldn't have a normal night out with this kind of menu, an open bar, games and a DJ any night for only $50 . . . and this is New Years Eve! If you can't get by there, you may call them at 803-548-7878 and give them your information on the phone to get them to hold tickets for you. Just ask for Steven, Michael or Anthony.

one graph . . .

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WEDNESDAY, 12/10/2008 -

Hey guys,

This Friday, Beef O'Brady's is offering an action packed night with Comedy and Karaoke (which, most of the time, can also be comedic).

This Friday, December 12th, 2008 -- 8:00-9:30 PM

The Chuckleheads Present:
The 2nd Annual Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus Comedy Improv Variety Extravaganza

Join Charlotte's own improv comedy troupe, The Chuckleheads, as they return to Baxter with another action packed night of heavy-duty audience participation games and improv comedy in the style of "Whose Line is It Anyway?". Anyone who has seen a fair number of improv comedy shows knows it is very difficult to engage an audience in live, unscripted and interactive sketches. I got the chance to check these guys out last month when they came to Beef's and even with a raucous (but funny) crowd, they proved that the Chucklehead's cast don't miss a beat and are extremely gifted. (The Show is free but a donation at the end of the performance would be greatly appreciated by the cast. Trust me, we are very fortunate to be getting these guys in our neck of the woods.)

If you still aren't sure and want a second opinion, here is a review by clicking on the following link:

http://www.artsalamode.com/AALM_TheatreReviewARCHIVE.html#chuckleheads

Krista and I will get to Beef's about 7:30 PM so if you want us to save you some seats, let me know and we'll do our best. (Warning: If you sit at our table, be prepared to get involved in the comedy.)

Then . . .

This Friday, December 12th, 2008 -- 9:30-10:00 PM

Chubby's Karaoke with KJ, TRY

It is what gave Beef O'Brady's the title of "Best Place to be on Friday Nights" and it is back again this weekend and now has a complete with a full bar complete with liquor (or high octane "Karaoke-ade"). Judging from the ton of awesome post Christmas Party performances that I witnessed last week, the karaoke crowd is back from Thanksgiving with a vengeance. Personally, I saw one of the best Boy Band tributes (complete with what appeared to choreographed poses) in Beef's Karaoke history when Matt C., Pat G. and Greg A. performed the Backstreet Boys, "I Want It That Way". No doubt, boy band karaoke aficionado, Mark Goodwin would have been proud. This week, I am excited about getting "Rappin' Ron" R. back in the "hizzy." I am hoping he breaks out one of his crowd pleasing performance of Snoop Dogg. We can only hope. See You Friday! (www.baxterkaraoke.com)

Coming Up . . .

December 31st, 8:00 PM - The Fifth Quarter's First Annual New Year's Eve Party

If you are holding off on getting tickets to this, don't wait too long. News of this event just broke a couple of days ago and the limited tickets are already selling fast. For $50, your ticket gets you entrance to a spectacular New Years Eve Party with a phenomenal menu, an open bar, a champagne toast at midnight, an LCR gaming table with Stephen and, of course, a DJ who will be playing all your favorite dance music. (Festive Cocktail Attire) For more information, call Stephen or Michael at Beef O'Brady's at 803-548-7878.

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THURS, Nov 13th:

This Friday, November 14th: After a fantastic night last Friday, complete with The Chuckleheads and a rockin' Birthday Party for Tricia Oakes, it looks like this Friday at Beef O'Brady's will be another big one. Get there early and enjoy Beef's great menu and drink specials as local Classic Rock Act, The Oneppo Bros. Band (www.oneppobros.com) will be playing the patio from 7:00-9:00 PM. Of course, as usual, Chubby's Karaoke KJ, TRY, will be cranking things up in "The 5th Quarter" room from 9:00 PM-1:00 AM. (Please don't forget to show your appreciation for all TRY does by contributing to his Tip jar. That's how he earns a living and, let's face it, he is the best KJ in the country.) We are extremely excited as the Charlotte Outdoor Adventures (www.CHOA.com) will be bringing a huge crowd out again this Friday after they absolutely raised the roof last month. These guys pack the room with some talent, so if you want to get a seat, you may want to arrive early. Krista and I will be getting there pretty late as we are coming after the Bobcats Game. Hope to see you all there! Bring your cameras so we can get plenty of pictures for the website: www.baxterkaraoke.com. (We have had a bit of a shift in how we are getting new pictures loaded, so please be patient. New pictures from the last couple of weekends should be up soon.)

After a fantastic night last Friday, complete with The Chuckleheads and a rockin' Birthday Party for Tricia Oakes, it looks like this Friday at Beef O'Brady's will be another big one. Get there early and enjoy Beef's great menu and drink specials as local Classic Rock Act, (

TUES, 10/28/08 -

This Friday, October 31st: After trick or treating is over, make sure you come out to Karaoke night at Beef O'Brady's and don't forget your costumes, too. Karaoke will be starting as usual at 9:00 PM. The entire staff will be decked out in their Halloween best and a costume contest will be held at 10:00 PM with prizes for the Sexiest, Scariest and Silliest costumes with KJ TRY and staff members judging. I can't wait to see what many of the karaoke regulars will be pulling out. (I am even hearing that the seldom seen, but the always appreciated karaoke favorite, Josh Myers will be back in the house.) Be sure and bring your cameras, as the best pictures will be featured on www.baxterkaraoke.com.

Next Friday: You Asked For It, You've Got It!

Friday, November 7th: The First Ever Improv Comedy/Karaoke Night at Beef O'Brady's Fifth Quarter will take place next week. Warm up for Karaoke Night from 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM as The Chuckleheads will be proudly presenting the hilarious "Post Election Hangover 2008 Comedy Improv Variety Extravaganza." For the first time in Baxter's Town Center, join Charlotte's most electoral college vote gathering, exit polling, red/blue stating, concession speech giving improvisational comedy troupe as they entertain the Beef O'Brady's Crowd with a night of "Whose Line is it Anyway" improv games and plenty of heavy-duty audience participation activities. There will be fabulous prizes and tons of giveaways! (In order to get a good seat in the Fifth Quarter and make sure you are able to catch all the action, you will probably want to arrive no later than 7:45 PM. The Fifth Quarter serves Beef's full menu until 11, so be sure to enjoy dinner and drinks.) Check out more info on The Chuckleheads at www.thechuckleheads.com and links to their show reviews at http://www.artsalamode.com/AALM_TheatreReviews.html and http://www.charlotteobserver.com/104/story/256948.html. Prepare to stay late and belt out your favorite tunes or watch others warble their favorites as KJ TRY and Chubby’s Karaoke take the stage from The Chuckleheads at 9:30 and will go until closing time! (I am already hearing this should be a crazy night as some of Baxter's finest are already warming up for the event to celebrate an honored resident's birthday.)

THURS, 10/19/08 -

Friday Night, October 17th: Come out to "Karaoke Night" at Beef O'Brady's and join us as we spend it celebrating with the karaoke masters' Matt & Cindy Curtis as they commemorate their Wedding Anniversary. Be sure you dedicate your sappiest love songs to the crowd favorites and I am sure they will be glad to reciprocate. (I hear Matt & Cindy have a couple of numbers up their sleeve that are sure to have the crowd howling.) If you haven't seen Matt & Cindy Curtis blow the lid off of Karaoke night, Friday is a can't miss. (To get a flavor of the experience, be sure and check out past pictures of them on www.baxterkaraoke.com.) You haven't lived until you have seen Cindy break out Janet Jackson's "Nasty" . . . "Miss Curtis if you're Nasty." Karaoke will start at 9:00 PM. Get there early to grab a good seat.

JB

THURSDAY, 10/2/08 -

Last Friday, October 3rd: It was a packed house as the Charlotte Outdoor Adventures (CHOA, www.choa.com) party packed Beef O'Brady's last weekend. The group brought some serious karaoke all-stars and a great audience of supporters to boot. Dori S., who coordinated the CHOA night out, showed off her karaoke chops with a few crowd pleasers, including Jil Sobule's original version of "I Kissed a Girl" and Meri Wilson's "Telephone Man." We had some country fans in the house who got to hear some fantastic performances Friday, as well. Sharon slayed the audience with a couple of numbers that included the Allison Krauss' hit, "When You Say Nothing at All" and Sara Evans "No Place That Far." Art knocked the cover off the ball with Josh Turner's "Long Black Train", Garth Brooks' "To Make You Feel My Love" and The Eagles' "Desperado". Dawn rocked the house with Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough" and Pat Benatar's "Hit Me with Your Best Shot." Baxter's Own Karaoke Rock-God's, Matt & Cindy C. brought the house down when Cindy worked the crowd with Janet Jackson's "Nasty" followed by Matt's killer cover of Ludacris' "Saturday." The standing room only crowd seemed to get along great and everyone had a great time. I forgot to bring my camera so unfortunately, I don't have pictures to put up just yet; however, there were a few people from CHOA who had cameras and promised to send me a few pics from Friday night. As soon as I get them, I'll get them up on the website, www.baxterkaraoke.com.

This Friday, October 10th: I look forward to seeing you all out again this Friday night. Karaoke at Fort Mill's Beef O'Brady's will start again promptly at 9:00 PM. Bring your digital cameras and be sure to take lots of pictures to help us document some of the evenings best performances and crowd shots. If you are looking for inspiration, I have included a few of my favorite Motivational Posters below. (A few new ones along with some classics.)

Save The Dates:

Saturday, October 18th: Most of you who have been to Karaoke Night over the past few months have met at least some of the Charlotte Improv Comedy Troupe, "The Chuckleheads" (including Baxter's own Lisa Samuel). While they are regulars at Karaoke on Friday nights, they have been doing improv together now for a year and are going to be celebrating their 1st Anniversary show Saturday, October 18th at 8:00 PM. Check for updates on their website at http://www.thechuckleheads.com/.

Thursday, October 30th: Don't miss the best Halloween Party in Fort Mill as Six Pence Pub will be having their Second Annual Halloween Party in Baxter on the night before Halloween. Get dressed up and come ready to party as there will be a DJ, plenty of drink specials (including the special red beer "Freaktoberfest"), and prizes galore for the costumed patrons ranging from the Sexiest to the Silliest and, of course, the Scariest. Use your imagination to impress the judges with your costume creativity or just come out to gawk. No doubt, a great time will be had by all.

THURS, 09/25/2008 -

The Fort Mill Times just released their "Top of the Times" awards and Beef O'Brady's was voted "Best Place to go on a Friday Night!" As usual, Karaoke will be on again this Friday night at Beef O'Brady's, September 26th at 9:00 PM. If you missed Karaoke last Friday, you missed Cindy Curtis' awesome rendition of Janet Jackson's "Nasty". Make sure you check out the new pictures of Cindy and others from last week just uploaded to www.baxterkaraoke.com. See you Friday night!

Save the Dates:

1. On Saturday, September 27th, don't miss the "3rd Annual Baxter Block Party" on Market Street which will include food, drinks, games for the kids and live music all day long between The Grapevine and Beef O'Brady's. (For those of you riding the Oktoberfest Double Decker Party Bus, we will be unloading at 7:00 PM at just in time for the headliner.)

2. Most of you who have been to Karaoke Night over the past few months have met at least some of the Charlotte Improv Comedy Troupe, "The Chuckleheads" (including Baxter's own Lisa Samuel). While they are regulars at Karaoke on Friday nights, they have been doing improv together now for a year and are going to be celebrating their 1st Anniversary show Saturday, October 18th at 8:00 PM. Save the date and look for updates on their website at www.thechuckleheads.com.

A few graphs . . .

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WED, 08/27/2008 -

Last Friday Night (August 22nd): It was another great night of Karaoke as we sent off Peter and Sarah Love to Alabama "Beef O'Brady's Style". There were plenty of awesome new songs as well as some standards but special for Peter and Sarah was a Scott G lead and Try and Joel back up "Black Betty" and a Christine and Try "Sweet Home Alabama". Great Crowd, Great Times! Make sure you check out the pictures which will be uploaded soon on www.baxterkaraoke.com. Hopefully, it will include a picture of Chris Scott with a Mullet a la Krista. (Her head is on his shoulder; thus producing a mullet "Joe Dirt Style." It's Awesome!.)

This Friday Night (August 29th): We'll see you guys Friday night as we are expecting more new and "used" Karaoke Classics. Make sure you bring your cameras to document the night. We're expecting some awesome showmanship to be exhibited by some of our faves, including a potential "Back to Basics" tour by Cindy Curtis, coming complete with "Great White" style Pyrotechnics. Don't ask me about logistics, just bring a fire extinguisher. Over 18 only Karaoke will start promptly at 9:00 PM. Get there early if you want a seat near the fire exits . . .

Now for some graphs . . . . .

Not Karaoke Related but still funny . . .

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WED, 08/06/2008 -

Karaoke Last Friday (August 1st): It was another Hot Night of Karaoke at Beef O'Brady's this past weekend. "Over 18 Only Karaoke" kicked off strong at 9:00 PM with Steve LaDue crooning a Willie Nelson favorite, "On the Road Again". Susan McSwiney broke out the Bangles classic, "Manic Monday". And, Cindy Streigel proved again why she is a crowd favorite with The Pretenders "I'll Stand By You."

It was a really busy night so I can't breakdown all of the moments from the likes of the now-famous Chuckleheads (www.thechuckleheads.com), Matt "Juvenile" Curtis, and "Gin & Juice" Tiffany; however, I will try to give a few highlights:

1. Paul Marks rocked a Sesame Street standard, "C is for Cookie" in the voice of Cookie Monster. (I know it sounds crazy, but it was a spot-on impression and had the crowd roaring. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more out of this guy.)

2. Melanie Haefer was back at Beef's as she spent her last Friday before going back to school behind the mic. While I don't think she typically has too much trouble getting the guys attention, she still worked room with "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls.

3. Special Guest, Jamie L., was back up from Atlanta and blew the crowd away when he sang a full length South Park version of "Come Sail Away" in the voice of Cartman. . . . Freakin' Hilarious!

4. David Michael, came all the way from Huntersville to take it up a notch with an incredible Guns & Roses Tribute with "Sweet Child of Mine". This guy is a Rock Star!

5. Steve LaDue and Chubby's KJ, TRY, paid homage to the Blues Brothers with an excellent rendition of "Rawhide!"

6. Frank Simino assisted a buddy of his who was singing the Spiritual Classic "Swing Low" with a heartfelt "Karaoke-for-the-Hearing-Impaired" interpretation. A picture of Frank's performing his sign language of "Swing Low" should be uploaded to www.baxterkaraoke.com within a day or two.

7. Matt G. performed Creed's "With Arm's Wide Open", complete with a tribute to his son who is still recovering from his second in a round of three open heart surgeries.

8. The final highlight I will mention needs a little background. Prior to last Friday's Karaoke Night, Baxter's own Pat and Meghan Gray sent me an email prefacing that they had worked out a duet that they were planning on singing as "a heartfelt tribute to what we believe to be an extremely salient issue, especially in this time of global conflict." Fearfully, I was braced for "Imagine" or "Pride, In the Name of Love". As it turned out, it was the perfect intro to their hysterical tandem performance of Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby's Got Back". Excellent set-up, guys.

Check out the pics on www.baxterkaraoke.com. They should be loaded over the next couple of days.

By the way, Chubby's Karaoke, led by KJ, TRY, has been doing a fantastic job bringing us the best Karaoke show around at Beef O'Brady's every Friday for the last 6 months, now. (Seriously, TRY is awesome and the best KJ, I have ever seen!) Check out Chubby's other shows at www.chubbyskaraoke.com.

Next Friday (August 9th): "Over-18-Only-Karaoke" will be back again this coming Friday promptly at 9:00 PM. The number of people singing now is getting bigger every week, so get there early to get in the Karaoke line-up and to get a good table. Make sure you check out Beef O'Brady's new Liquor Drink Menu which, judging from last week's crowd, is quite a hit. (Apparently, the Siesta Key Sunrise and the Emerald Island are quite popular.) As always, the Beer Bucket specials will be back, as well. See Ya Friday Night!

We have been getting some excellent photos to put up on the website each week. (www.baxterkaraoke.com) Please keep bringing them. (Thanks especially to Deb Rapa and Michael Hipskind.) If anyone has a good Digital Video Camera with a good light (Beef's is pretty dark) and wouldn't mind helping us out, we would love to get some video footage (with only willing singers, of course) from Karaoke Night linked to the site, as well. If you have any ideas, email me or Scott G. The website is looking good but we are thinking some video footage of some of the highlights we have been lucky enough to see at Beef O'Brady's needs to be shared with the viewers of www.baxterkaraoke.com as well. I think some video could increase website numbers and potentially future attendance for Karaoke Night. (I'm thinking Matt and Cindy C's "Back that Thing Up" or Blake's "Strokin" could be a couple of video must's.)

And now some Graphs . . . . . .

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A 98 Degrees Classic:

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According to this graph, Radiohead's lead singer is predominately a Creep and a Weirdo:

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Not music related but still funny.

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Mon, 07/21/2008 -

Last Friday (July 18th): It was another successful Karaoke Night at Beef O'Brady's as we were introduced to a handful of new faces. The Charlotte based improv comedy troupe, "The Chucklehead's" (check them out at www.thechuckleheads.com) were in the neighborhood for Baxter's Front Porch Friday, and apparently decided they weren't done entertaining the community as they energized Beef O'Brady's Karaoke crowd with songs that ranged from Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" to the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive" until 2:00 in the morning. Baxter's own resident Chucklehead, Lisa Samuel, proved she was more than just funny with numerous covers including "For Good" from Wicked and Sugarland's "Gotta Be Something More". Early on, I proved myself to be a jackass due to some confusion concerning my name showing up repeatedly on the "Karaoke" sign up sheet with unfamiliar songs. As it turns out, another Chucklehead, who was also blessed with the name Joel (whom we promplty deemed "Post-Nutrisystem Joel"), was there to rip up some tunes including Jason Mraz's "Curbside Prophet" and Tenacious D's "Gently". (I come from the Highlander school of "There Can Only Be One!)

Michael and Amy J showed up late and were not allowed to leave until Michael joined Scott G and Bobby P with the David Allan Coe Classic "You Never Even Call Me By My Name." Len Tucker and Ron Rapa gave a hilarious performance of another Tenacious D song, "Tribute". Destinee rocked the house with the Britney Spears version of "I Love Rock & Roll". Steve took it up a notch this week with Modern English's, "Melt With You". After backing me up on Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations", Cindy Striegel broke out Celine Dion's "I Drove All Night". TRY proved once again why he is the best KJ around with superiour renditions of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" and Journey's "Lights." Chris Scott introduced the crowd to what I am sure will be a new dance standard for future Beef's Karaoke Nights: Akon's "Smack That". To cap it off, Jeff Taylor performed the best cover of a Nickleback song I have ever heard this week with "Figure You Out". That guy's voice is amazing.

We will have some great pictures documenting the night on www.baxterkaraoke.com soon.

Next Friday (July 25th): As usual, I'm looking forward to seeing you all out next Friday for Karaoke at Beef O'Brady's. Next weekend, Beef O'Brady's is going to do something a little bit different. This Friday night will be Over 18 Only Karaoke all night starting at 9:00 PM and Saturday night will be "Family Night Karaoke" from 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM. Beef's has received a lot of requests for more "Family Karaoke", so they have decided to devote an entire night to it. This will also allow an earlier start for those Karaoke fans who don't necessarily come out with the family on Friday nights. If you like the new two-Karaoke-Night set-up, please let Michael at Beef O'Brady's know about it. You can email him at beefrockhill@comporium.net.

Now some graphs:

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Wed, 07/16/2008 -

Last Friday, (July 11th): Last Friday saw a jump in attendance as we saw some familiar faces along with a few new ones. There were numerous songs new to Beef O'Brady's. I can't mention them all but here are a few highlights: Steve LaDue broke out Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" (with Cindy Striegel backing him up with Sting's "I Want My MTV"). Steve also did a spot-on version of Elvis' "Teddy Bear". Cindy also showed off her voice with the Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You". Christine (famous for her Fairview Grill performances in Charlotte) brought her talents to Fort Mill and joined TRY on Ozzy and Lita Ford's "Close Your Eyes Forever". Cindy Curtis blew us away with Soft Cell's "Tainted Love". First Timer, Lauren, jumped in with both feet as she and two of her friends sang Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" (complete with Joshua Myers seducing the girls with his charm and good looks.)

Also, here are three more performances that has people talking:

1. Joshua Myers (a.k.a. J-Money) bringing the house down with Rick James' "Super Freak". Besides being a fantastic Karaoke star, Joshua Myers is an accomplished editorialist. I encourage you to check out his hysterical piece on "Fort Mill - Vice City" by using the following link:. http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=25875724&blogID=397446179

2. First Timers, Aspen and Danielle, blew everyone away. Danielle proved she had the voice to match her good looks with The Fugees "Killing Me Softly" and Aspen threw down the gauntlet with Toni Braxton's "Another Sad Love Song."

3. Blake was back and while he warmed the crowd up with The Divinyl's "I Touch Myself", he actually raised the bar to a previously unachieved level with a hilariously animated version of Adam Sandler's purposely offensive "At a Medium Pace." Blake always attracts a huge crowd as people rush into the Fifth Quarter Karaoke room from the bar and patio to see what he will do next. I for one can't wait to see what else Blake has up his sleeve for future Karaoke nights.

Be sure to check out our website, www.baxterkaraoke.com. There will be new pictures from last weekend loaded up on Thursday.

This Coming Friday, (July 18th): Don't miss Karaoke this Friday at Beef O'Brady's. It will begin at 9:00 PM with "Over 18 Only" Karaoke starting promptly at 10:00 PM. Food is served until 11:00 PM and, as always, there will be $12 beer buckets. Just bring your voices, new songs, and hilarious performances. Also, don't forget to bring your digital cameras to capture a few of Karaoke night's impromptu highlights so you can send them to myself or Scott G. We will upload them to the website: www.baxterkaraoke.com. Special thanks to Glen Buckner and Michael Hipskind who have sent us some great pictures over the last few weeks.

Now for a couple of new graphs . . . . .

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Wed, 07/09/2008 -

Karaoke, Last Friday (July 4th): Well, it was a rebuilding week for Karaoke night at Beef O'Brady's. Following the previous Friday's record crowd, the July 4th attendance was, we'll say, "light." Apparently, after a day filled with Barbeques, baseball games, swimming, parades, and fireworks, Karaoke is not always on the "next to do" list. Go Figure. The handful of us that stuck around mostly sang songs we either always wanted to try and hadn't previously, or songs that we would not want to perform in front of a large audience under most circumstances in general. I tried out Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax", Depeche Mode's "Never Let Me Down", and Tool's "Aenema"; and in so doing, confirmed they should never be sung again. However, Glen Buckner proved his versatility with a country Trace Adkins tune followed by his dead-on performance of INXS' "Pretty Vegas." Cindy and Matt Curtis brushed up on their tandem performance of "Back That Thang Up" along with several other songs I am sure they will want to save for future crowds. Some of the staff from Six Pence joined us late and broke out some tunes, as well. At one point, Six Pence rooftop waiter, Leif Demink, launched his dance version of the "Air-Worm". (Picture will be soon available on www.baxterkaraoke.com.) TRY was in rare form as well, as he did songs that ranged from the Cure to Metallica. Despite the small group, we still got some good pictures which will be forthcoming on our website www.baxterkaraoke.com.

This coming Friday (July 11th): I am expecting a rebound in attendance this week as many of our favorite karaoke stars are back in town from vacation. There are new songs in the works and a couple of performances I can't wait to witness. Karaoke will start at Beef O'Brady's at 9:00 PM and "Over-18" Karaoke will start promptly at 10:00 PM. Get there early to get a seat. Also, please bring your camera's and be sure to send me your best pictures so we can upload them to the site at www.baxterkaraoke.com. See you Friday!

Now some graphs:

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Mon, 06/30/08 -

Last Friday (June 27th): There were several Birthdays in the house at Beef O'Brady's last Friday night, including our own dancing machine, Chris Scott, and I guess that brought with it a crowd to make it another packed week for Karaoke. Despite the standing room only crowd, the room was filled with great spirits; and with the new faces, came more new songs. While I can't call out all of the awesome performances, I have to mention a few. Special prop's need to go out to Steve who not only broke out a rocking version of "Devil Went Down to Georgia", but followed it up with David Lee Roth Classic "Just a Gigolo". Beef's Karaoke first-timer, Brian, brought the house down with Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride" and later with the Muppets "Rainbow Connection". Deb treated the crowd to Aqua's "BarbieGirl". Matt C. had the place jamming with his Juvenile cover of "Back That Thang Up", and later, with Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It." Newcomer, Tony, did a great job with Joe Diffie's "3rd Rock from the Sun". Lizzie and Sara pulled out Joan Jett's "I love Rock and Roll". Tiffany had the whole crowd singing with her on Biz Markie's, "Oh Baby, You Got What I Need". Of course, once again, Cindy C. killed. . . .this time, with her Styx cover of "Mr. Roboto."

There were two highlights of the night that must be mentioned: 1) Chris Scott and Deb Rapa's "C'mon N Ride It" that broke out into a 30 person train with Peter Love as Dancing Engineer Extraordinaire (the pictures that are up on the website don't do it justice, but just trust me, it was poetry in motion.) 2) Blake's personal serenade to Chris Scott's Aunt Gretta (who was there to celebrate Chris' Birthday) incorporated an ad-libbed cover of The Divinyls "I Touch Myself". (Once again, the pictures don't do it justice. All I can say is that it was hot and left Gretta resorting to feverishly fanning herself with the Beef's Menu.) Be sure to check out the pics on www.baxterkaraoke.com.

This Coming Friday (4th of July!!!): You Bet!! Karaoke is on again this Friday. So when you are done gorging yourself at the cookout, spending the day on the lake, or getting home from the Fireworks, make sure you stop by Beef O'Brady's to check out Karaoke Night. It will start, as usual, at 9:00 PM and "Over 18 Only" will start at 10:00 PM. They will have their usual Beer Specials and the kitchen will be open until 11:00 PM. The crowds are getting bigger every week but everyone seems to be cool with pulling chairs up and sharing tables. Please bring your digital cameras to take pictures of the festivities and send me your best ones to be uploaded onto the new website. Be sure to check it out at www.baxterkaraoke.com.

Now here are a few graphs . . .

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Wed, 06/25/2008 -

Last Friday's Karaoke (June 20th): Krista and I got to Beef O'Brady's Friday night about 9:30 PM and there were no tables open in the place. I'm not complaining as it forced a lot of people who didn't previously know each other to combine tables and make new friends. I would guess that 70% of the crowd were all first-timer's and the vibe was incredible. If the energy in the room wasn't enough, the talent was even higher. Lane C was with a party of 8 celebrating a ladies night out and every one of them had recording quality voices. In addition, Cindy Striegel proved that talent runs in her family when she came with 8 relatives as they were celebrating her Dad's birthday. There were a lot of new songs performed at Beef O'Brady's including Mariah Carey's "Hero", Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon", Chris Daughtry's "Home" and "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners. The music ran solid 'until 2:00 AM. Check out pictures at the Website: www.baxterkaraoke.com.

This coming Friday (June 27th): This Friday, Beef O'Brady's Karaoke will once again will be packed. Not only have I received word from a lot of the regulars that they will be in attendance, but Chris Scott (the dancing machine who is famous for his performance of J.T.'s "Sexyback") will be importing some newbie's as they celebrate his 37th birthday. Feel free to buy Chris a glass of Woodbridge Merlot. The crowd will definitely be in a good mood and I expect a lot of packed tables along with exciting new song selections. Once again, please bring your digital cameras to document the evening on the new website. We have been very fortunate to have Michael Hipskind bring his photographic abilities the last two weeks. Scott Goodale has already loaded up 9 pictures from last Friday night at www.baxterkaraoke.com. Check them out. We'll see you this Friday night at Beef O'Brady's. Karaoke starts at 9:00 PM and Over-18 Karaoke starts promptly at 10:00 PM.

And now some graphs . . . . .

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Wed, 06/18/2008 -

Last Friday (June 13th): It was an "all-star" night for Karaoke at Beef's last Friday with a lot of new performances: Cindy Curtis rocked the house with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Jen Belk and Try covered Fergie's "My Humps". Liz McBride (who made herself a Karaoke Legend with her performance of "Mickey" a few of weeks ago) once again killed with a hilariously choreographed version of Madonna's "Like a Virgin". Cindy Striegel blew the crowd away with The Cranberries' "Zombie" and a late night version of Eurhythmic's "Sweet Dreams". After some liquid courage was consumed, Len Tucker, Scott Denobile and Ron Rapa took the stage with a gutsy version of Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" (although, I must say, many are still clamoring for Scott's reprise of "Rock Lobster"). If that wasn't enough, I had the privilege of joining expert Hip-Hop duo, Deb Rapa and Chris Scott for Beef's Initiation to the Quad City DJ's "C'mon N RIde It".

Once again, Michael & Jen Belk proved they are the Karaoke Party Masters when they got the crowd on their feet with Usher's "Yeah" featuring Chris Scott as Lil John. The piece de resistance was when Michael Belk donned his top hat and fake nose-glasses and did his spot on and hysterical version of "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground. The seldom seen Karaoke Props were also brought out for Scott Goodale's reprise of "White and Nerdy" and Cindy's "Buddy Holly" performances. A select few pictures will be uploaded to the website, www.baxterkaraoke.com, in the next day or so.

This Friday (June 20th): I'm gearing up for another hot night at Beef O'Brady's in Fort Mill for Karaoke again this week. I'm looking forward to seeing you all there. Karaoke starts at 9:00 PM and "Over 18 Only" Karaoke will start promptly at 10:00 PM. Be sure and bring your digital camera and email your best pictures to myself or Scott (Scottgoodale@comporium.net). Watch for pictures from last Friday night to be uploaded to the website (www.baxterkaraoke.com) in the next day or so. See you Friday Save me a seat.

JB

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Wed, 06/11/2008 -

Karaoke Last Friday (June 6th): Beef O'Brady's had another big crowd last weekend with some fantastic performances. While the crowd included a lot of new faces, it didn't take long for them to get on their feet and start dancing. While there were too many to mention them all, the singers were at the top of their game, as well. Glen Buckner sounded the best I have heard yet. Cindy Curtis from Wags won the unprepared crowd over with an animated version of Bad Medicine. A recent Beef O'Brady's newcomer, also named Cindy (I don't know her last name yet), performed an amazing performance of the impossibly hard to imitate Evanescence song "Bring Me to Life". (Unfortunately for the audience, I told her I could back her up in the Paul McCoy "Wake me up" part and failed to deliver; but her part was overpowering enough that the crowd still gave her an ovation.) David Hudspeth also came through with "Soul Man" (I backed him up with the Dan Akyroyd part). It was a great night that stretched into the early morning. I think the breakdown was a little after 2:00 AM. Be sure and look for pictures to be posted soon on the new website Scott G is setting up at www.5thquarterkaraoke.com. They should be posted in the next couple of days.

This Coming Friday (June 13th): "Don't call it a comeback!" Yes, I have received confirmation that, after four consecutive weeks of missing karaoke, Jen Belk and friends will be back in the Hizzy this coming Friday night! This means that Karaoke will be an audience participation night with plenty of dancing, laughing and occasional singing. If we are lucky maybe she will even break out another "Karaoke for the Deaf" performance. In addition to Jen and Company, I have talked to at least 30 people in Baxter alone who plan on attending as well and understand there are some powerful new performances being planned. Karaoke starts at 9:00 PM and the "Over 18" show begins at 10:00 PM. Get there early to get a good seat. Also, be sure to bring your cameras. We are going to be posting our first pictures from last week's Karaoke on our website, www.5thquarterkaraoke.com, in the next couple of days and want to add more each week.

One more thing . . . Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 14th. Beef O'Brady's is having an all day "luau" party. Break out your beach wear and come out to enjoy the special menu, drink specials and the band. The band starts at 7:00 PM.

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Thurs, 06/05/2008 -

Karaoke this Friday looks like another big crowd. I hope to see all of you there again. I have been told about some of the songs in the works and am looking forward to the show. I won't give the names to protect the innocent, but this weekend looks like it will be kick-started by some well-rehearsed hits. Karaoke starts Friday at 9:00 PM and 18 & Up Officially starts at 10:00 PM. See you at Beef O'Brady's!

Two more things:

1. Scott G (the guy who performed the hilarious "White and Nerdy' a few of weeks ago) is in the process of getting a Baxter Karaoke website up and running so I will be able to simply send out a link and the updates, pictures, charts and graphs, etc will be on a website. The website will be www.5thquarterkaraoke.com (or also www.baxterkaraoke.com ). I know a lot of you have taken some great pictures and videos of Karaoke in the past few months (You know who you are . . . Jen Belk, Erin Goodwin, Glen Buckner). As you find great pictures and video, please send them to me or let me download them so we can add them to the new site. Over time, there should be some great footage that will better display the fun that is had at Beef's on Friday night. Meanwhile, when you come out, please bring your cameras to catch those impromptu moments that everybody talks about the next day. (Where was a camera last week when Rachelle Settle threw down the gauntlet to Chris Scott by breaking out the "Coffee Grinder"?)

2. Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 14th. Beef O'Brady's is having an all day "luau" party. Break out your beach wear and come out to enjoy the special menu, drink specials and the band.

940 MARKET STREET | FORT MILL, SC 29708 | (803) 548-7878

Daily Details for Fort Mill, SC (29708) [ English | Metric ]

Daily Details for
Fort Mill, SC (29708)
[ English | Metric ]