The competition was held in a huge banquet hall down in Chinatown called Grand Harmony Restaurant. Here's a shot of the audience around 10pm waiting for the karaoke to begin! ˆ crowd ˆ

Niki, Seth, Hot Karla and The Fatty all came out to cheer me on! Thanks, guys! ˆ fatty ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ seth miller ˆ

And here's the panel of judges that were selected to judge the competition! (Not sure who the girl on the left is, but then it's) Andres Levin of Yerba Buena, Ricky Van Veen from CollegeHumor.com, Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav and Rob Harvilla from the Village Voice. (Photo by Leo Zacharias) ˆ andres levin ˆ ricky van veen ˆ rob harvilla ˆ tim harrington ˆ judges ˆ lvhrd ˆ

I was the second competitor called up to the stage, and it was announced, much to my relief, that I'd be singing Gloria! Yay! (Thanks to Seth for manning my cam and snapping these pics!) ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ

For the first round of competition we were told that we'd be judged on two things: 1) How well we performed our song. 2) How well we incorporated the use of a "prop" that would be given to us halfway through our song! Sure enough, I was about halfway through Gloria and I was handed... ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ

...a pair of balls! Hahahah. How appropriate! ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ

In my defense, I first used to balls to show off my juggling skills, but the crowd wasn't impressed. It wasn't until I started awkwardly rolling them around on my crotch that the crowd lit up! (Photo by Leo Zacharias) ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ

Here's me post performance. (The party was open bar which means most of those beer bottles in the background were probably drank by me). ˆ me ˆ beer ˆ

Here's the girl they called up to sing after me! ˆ karaoke ˆ

Halfway through her song she was given a huge mess of tangled rope as her prop! ˆ karaoke ˆ

The audience. ˆ crowd ˆ

Rina (see what I mean about ONLY ever seeing her at karaoke-related events?), me and Niki. ˆ me ˆ niki ˆ rina ˆ

Rina and Fatty. ˆ fatty ˆ rina ˆ

After the six competitors had each performed a song, the judges announced that only three of us would be moving on to round two! Here's my reaction to the news that I'd be chosen to move on, but that in Round Two song selections had to be chosen from a pre-selected 8-song list! ˆ me ˆ seth miller ˆ

I was really nervous about the list (because nothing's worse than having to watch someone do karaoke when they don't know the song!), but I lucked out and managed to secure Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer for my round two jam! ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ

Which is one of my favorite karaoke songs of all time (although you gotta watch out for that full-step key change at the end. That shit's HIGH!). ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ

Out of all the Jovi repertoire, Livin on a Prayer is the one that has the most opportunity for crowd-interaction. You get to sing the part that goes "Whoa, we're halfway there..." ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ

...and then you can hold the mic out and catch your breath and let the crowd sing the "whoa-oh!" part that comes next! Hahah. ˆ me ˆ best ˆ karaoke ˆ

If, by the time I die, tombstones with embedded video screens are commonplace, someone please make sure that this photo makes it into the cemetery slideshow. Thanks. (Photo by Leo Zacharias) ˆ me ˆ best ˆ crowd ˆ karaoke ˆ

Here's me with the evening's emcee, Michelle Collins smiling because I'd just learned that I'd been picked as one of the evening's two finalists! ˆ me ˆ michelle collins ˆ

And here's the board they had up on stage to how the competition played out. ˆ lvhrd ˆ

In between each of the rounds of competition, they had open karaoke where people could go up and sing. Here's Eric Gillin getting ready to bust a jam. ˆ eric gillin ˆ

Hot Karla and Niki. ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ

Here's me with Jeff Newelt (aka - JAHFURRY), one of the other competitors (who in all fairness, should have been chosen over me for the finals). ˆ jeff newelt ˆ me ˆ

Claire was the other finalist! For the last round it was announced that our hands were going to be TAPED to one microphone and we'd be singing a duet voted on by the audience! Here's Claire and I getting our hands taped together. Hahaha. (Photo by Leo Zacharias) ˆ me ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

The audience ended up selecting Summer Lovin' from the musical Grease. I didn't know the song well, but I knew it better than most of the other songs that were on the list! (There was stuff like Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong! If the audience had chosen one of those songs, I would've been effed!). ˆ me ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Here's Claire and I in action sharing our tape-handed microphone. ˆ me ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

After some deliberation by the judges, it was announced that the winner of the LVHRD MCFGHT Karaoke Competition was....DRUMROLL........ ˆ me ˆ michelle collins ˆ karaoke ˆ

....Claire! What can I say? I gave it my best! ˆ michelle collins ˆ

After the competition was over, they had more karaoke! Here's Doug Jaeger (incognito in a wig) kicking some hair metal while Rina did her best slutty groupie dance moves right up in the front row! ˆ doug jaeger ˆ rina ˆ

Hot Karla and me. ˆ hot karla ˆ me ˆ dance ˆ

Niki busting moves in the corner with some dude! ˆ niki ˆ dance ˆ

After I snapped this pic of Hot Karla doing some kind of sexy "pick up" move on Niki... ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ carry ˆ

...I tried to copy her style on an unsuspecting Rina who was walking by... ˆ me ˆ rina ˆ drunk ˆ tongue ˆ

...I did pretty good... ˆ me ˆ rina ˆ carry ˆ drunk ˆ

...until I fell and almost dropped her on her head five seconds later. Hahah. ˆ me ˆ rina ˆ drunk ˆ fall ˆ

Funlap and me. ˆ funlap ˆ me ˆ

Posh Tony showed up at midnight (read: two hours late) and then tried to act all shocked and indignant that he'd missed the entire thing. Then after we realized that it was early and that we were already IN Chinatown, we did the only sensible thing... ˆ posh tony ˆ

First thing I did was make sure that everyone had a big, ol' shot of tequilla! Hahaha. ˆ shots ˆ

Niki and Hot Karla at the bar post tequila. Then it was time to get... ˆ hot karla ˆ

...our LASERDISC karaoke on! ˆ laserdisc ˆ winnies ˆ

Seth went first! ˆ seth miller ˆ karaoke ˆ

And was heckled by Posh Tony... ˆ posh tony ˆ heckle ˆ

...from the booth... ˆ posh tony ˆ heckle ˆ

...until he did his shot. Haha. ˆ seth miller ˆ karaoke ˆ shots ˆ

I'm not sure what song he sang, but I do see the words "Will you let me come on" and "inside" up there on the screen in the background. A decidedly "Seth" choice. ˆ seth miller ˆ karaoke ˆ

Somewhere along the way, Hot Karla found herself a Captain's hat. ˆ hot karla ˆ captain ˆ hat ˆ

A little 1am, Dennis showed up with a crew of his own! He hit the stage with the quickness for what I'm guessing was probably Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive, his signature jam. ˆ dens ˆ karaoke ˆ

Pow! ˆ dens ˆ karaoke ˆ

Halfway through his song, he tagged in a shocked Kevin K... ˆ kevin k ˆ

..and it turned into a duet! ˆ kevin k ˆ karaoke ˆ

Steel horse, indeed. ˆ dens ˆ karaoke ˆ

Audience Sing-a-long Rating? 10. ˆ strangers ˆ

Hahaha. ˆ dens ˆ karaoke ˆ

Meanwhile, back at the booths, the mysterious red-shirted man was kicking it to Niki in full-effect (er, unless this was someone she already knew and I'm completely wrong). ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ laugh ˆ

Capt. Seth retook the stage and proceeded to break some hearts with... ˆ seth miller ˆ captain ˆ hat ˆ karaoke ˆ

...some Careless Whispers from Mr. George Michaels. ˆ seth miller ˆ captain ˆ hat ˆ karaoke ˆ

Here's a photo timestamped 29 seconds later: The captain's hat is missing and Hot Karla and Niki are up on stage. ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ seth miller ˆ karaoke ˆ

Sometimes I dance so hard I break my legs. Thankfully, Hot Karla was there to lend some support. ˆ hot karla ˆ me ˆ best ˆ dance ˆ

Here's Dens playa-hating on red-shirts duet with Niki! Hahaha. ˆ dens ˆ karaoke ˆ

HAHAHAHAHA! Here's a quick photo collage I made to reiterate just how expertly Grant managed to capture Posh Tony's likeness when he angrily scribbled this character of him a few months ago. (Keep in mind, Tony wasn't even around when Grant drew this!) ˆ posh tony ˆ best ˆ drawing ˆ

Then Karla and Niki went up for a duet... ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ drunk ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

.....and totally proceeded to take the game that I like to call "drunken grab-ass"... ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ drunk ˆ duet ˆ grab ass ˆ karaoke ˆ

...to dizzying new heights! ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ drunk ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

It was epic! ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ drunk ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Hahahaha. ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ drunk ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Let me explain exactly what's happening in this photo. Niki's like "Here Seth, you sing again!" And Seth, who just watched Niki and Karla's duet is like "I think I'll sit this one out, why don't you two keep on singing?" Hahaha. ˆ niki ˆ seth miller ˆ karaoke ˆ

So sing some more they did! ˆ niki ˆ karaoke ˆ

Hahaha. ˆ hot karla ˆ karaoke ˆ

Niki and Hot Karla I miss karaoke with you! ˆ hot karla ˆ niki ˆ drunk ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Here's me around 2am, wearing a green purse and singing. (???) ˆ me ˆ karaoke ˆ purse ˆ

Last song of the night! I may not have won the competition, but I definitely went home feeling like a winner! (Cue sitcom audience applause and outro music from Growing Pains). ˆ hot karla ˆ me ˆ niki ˆ seth miller ˆ best ˆ karaoke ˆ

If you're interested here's a really funny video of the karaoke competition that the LVHRD people just uploaded THIS WEEK! See? I'm not the only who takes more than a year to put stuff up on the web!