Terri: And you have now decided to attempt to set an official world record in karaoke?  What prompted you to decide to do such a thing?
PK: Recently there was a news story about a man in the US who sang karaoke for 39 hours, beating the previous record by just one hour. After the news report I started thinking, “I sing really badly, …but I’m pretty sure I could sing badly longer than that guy!”

Soon after the report aired I went downstairs and spoke to our volunteers about it and, once they stopped laughing, we all agreed it’d be something fun to do and it could also bring in a lot of new support for our charity site. Next thing I knew we had contacted Guinness World Records and made an official announcement on Isara.org.

Terri: How long do you estimate you will need to sing in order to set a new world record?
PK: The current record is 39 hours so, of course, we’re aiming for anything above that. I think someone in our forum calculated it to be about 800 songs. Wow! That’s going to be a lot of wrong notes.

Terri: Do you sing karaoke regularly or otherwise perform publicly?
PK: Definitely not. Back in the states I never once sang karaoke and, honestly, actually thought it was kind of stupid. But when I got to Thailand and saw how engrained karaoke was into their culture, and how much happier the Thais were, I decided to rethink my opinion. And I’m glad I did.

Since coming to Thailand five years ago I’ve probably sang karaoke about 20 times but, because of a lack of time (and energy), I haven’t sang for more than a year. I should probably go sometime to practice. LOL

Terri: When is this world class event going to take place and from where?
PK: It will be on August 1st at 7am CST and take place at the Isara Learning Center, a free school we’ve set up here to help the less fortunate, and it’s located in Nong Khai, Thailand.

Strangely enough, before we renovated the building into a school, it used to be a restaurant and karaoke pub. Actually, that’s not saying much. Most places here have at one time or another been a restaurant or karaoke pub.

Terri: Should the neighbors be concerned?
PK: Maybe, a little. But they don’t complain about the dogs howling all night on the street. My singing can’t be any worse than that, right? …Or can it?

Terri: You will be utilizing the internet in interesting ways for this event.  Can you explain what the plan is for that?
PK: Much like the Isara Charity, we like to make everything as interactive as possible. This event will be no different. Anyone at home or work will be able to tune in and watch (or listen) via a LIVE webcast. Also, as always, visitors can use the Isara forum to post comments or ask questions, which I can then “try” to answer during the instrumental sections of songs.

Terri: I understand you will actually be taking song requests from people all over the world.  Can you tell us how that works?  And will you also be singing in different languages?
PK: Yes, any Isara.org member can request one song for free on our website. We hope this will attract some new members to our site and help increase our web traffic, which is how we fund a lot of our charity projects. Also, if you want to help even more you can donate $5 and get an extra song. As usual 100% of all donations will go to help fund our next charity projects.

Most of the songs will be English but we don’t want to alienate our Thai hosts so we’ll be mixing in some Thai karaoke songs. Also, it might allow foreigners listening online to hear music they normally wouldn’t have an opportunity to hear.

Terri: The poster you have come up with says “One man.  One mic.  No talent.”  Would you say that pretty much sums it all up?  And what do you hope to accomplish by attempting to break the current record?
PK: Sure. If there was a world record category for “The Person with the Least Amount of Talent”, I’d be that guy. And everyone will soon be able to hear it for themselves on August 1st. But again, the point is not to sound the best (that’s what professionals are for), but to do something that’s completely outside my comfort zone and to do it for a good cause.

Even if I can’t beat the record I really hope this train wreck of a performance brings in some much needed visitors to our charity website. Record or no record, if it brings more awareness to Isara then I’ll really feel like we accomplished something.

Terri: Where can people go to learn more about this event?
PK: Everything about the event and the charity it’s supporting can be found at www.isara.org . Hope you all tune in on August 1st. …And don’t forget to make Isara your new homepage! (Sorry, but I had to say it.).