Finland grabs karaoke world record from China

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The previous karaoke world record (for continuous performance) of 145 hours and 45 seconds set by Chinese crooners earlier this year was comprehensively trashed late on Tuesday night in the city of Kouvola in southeastern Finland, when the local karaoke enthusiasts reached their goal - and kept on singing.
      The Chinese record became obsolete at 11:15 pm, just as the Finnish Idols finalist Johanna Hämäläinen of Kouvola was performing her rendition of The Show Must Go On.
      And true to the lyrics of the Queen hit, the show did not stop there. The aim is to continue singing until the magic figure of 240 hours - ten whole days - has been reached sometime this coming Sunday.
      Aimo Sippola, president of the Kouvola Karaoke Club, described his sentiments after the setting of the new record as tired but happy. "Unbelievable, weird, an almost empty feeling", Sippola analysed his emotions as the moment passed and more and more singers climbed on stage.
     
On the stage erected in the fringes of the town centre of Kouvola, the music has continued without a break since Wednesday of last week. Since the aim is to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, the whole project has been strictly monitored. Between the numbers there must not be a break of longer than 30 seconds, and any one song can only be repeated after a minimum of two hours.
      On the computerised song list there are over a thousand entries to choose from, and anything from tango to rock’n’roll was heard on Tuesday night.
      Mare Haikonen of Kouvola waits stageside bearing the number-tag 2655. Haikonen has spent two nights and a day at the scene, and so far has stepped up to the microphone a creditable 19 times.
      "The joy of singing is what attracts us to karaoke", Haikonen explains.
      "No-one gets criticised as long as one does not get up on stage merely to perform unintelligible drunken bellowing." Perish the thought that that would ever happen in Finland.


See also:
  Reader´s video of the event

Helsingin Sanomat