World record set in karaoke marathon in Helsinki

240-hour target missed - previous record nevertheless broken

print this

An attempt to set a new record for marathon karaoke singing ended in Helsinki a day too soon on Sunday when the chain of singers broke. One group of singers, which was to have continued the effort for another 24 hours, was not able to show up on time.
      Nevertheless, the previous record of 214 hours set in Japan was exceeded by two hours. Being recognised as a record requires diligence and precision: more than 100 singers took part in the effort, and the gap between any two consecutive songs could not exceed 30 seconds.
     
The attempt to set a new record began on Friday, December 7th, with students from the Helsinki University of Technology launching the effort.
      The same singers concluded the event on Sunday afternoon after singing around the clock. During the nine days that intervened there were singers from the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, employees of Playstation, which organised the events, and a few passers-by.
     
Event organiser Sakari Kyrö was most worried that keeping all of the threads together would prove too difficult for the large group. Technical problems were also a concern. Nevertheless, serious pitfalls were averted.
      "There were some problems with the microphones, but fortunately there were four machines, so the singing did not get cut off."
     
Nevertheless, one hurdle still remains.
      "The Guinness Book of World Records still has to approve the record", Kyrö says. However, he is not worried, saying that the rules have ben followed meticulously.
      This is not the first occasion when Finns - who do seem to have a penchant for these odd feats of endurance - have set a world karaoke marathon record. A group in Kouvola snatched the crown in August from the previous holders, who came from China. Apparently the Japanese swiped the title back in the intervening four months.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland grabs karaoke world record from China (16.8.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat