If you look at my photo to the left, you will probably notice a few things:
- I am short.
- I am a woman.
- I am grimacing as if someone just stepped on my toe.
While I can't adequately explain #3 (every photo of me singing seems to come out like that), I am fairly certain that, at my last exam by a licensed physician, I was determined to be a petite female. I think my husband would also agree with this diagnosis.
Because of my height, I tend to sound a bit like a chipmunk huffing helium when I speak. If I get too excited and raise my voice, dogs around the neighborhood go into a frenzy.
Oddly enough, however, I sing in the alto range, or even male tenor. (I also get the urge to watch football and scratch myself inappropriately while I sing, but that's neither her nor there.) I've seen quite a few surprised faces when I've belted out, "When the lights go down in the city ..." I'm sure they expected something closer to, "We represent the Lollipop Guild ..."
According to a few members of my KaraokeLovers Group on Yahoo! Groups, I'm not the only karaoke singer who likes to gender-bend. One member said, "It has been ... my belief that some women do male songs because of the lack of female songs out there." Another wondered if the women who are singing male-oriented songs all have deep voices.
Obviously, we don't all have deep voices (chipmunk ... helium ... remember?). So, what about the other theory? Is there a dearth of "quality" female-oriented music available for karaoke?
I'm not so sure. I certainly don't sing exclusively "guy" songs. I've been known to sing my share of Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, and even Britney Spears, right alongside Extreme, Creed, and Meatloaf. Lately, I've been itching to try Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," although I'm fairly certain I will blow out a lung hitting some of the high notes. I just simply like a lot of songs sung by men. Also, they tend to be easier for me to sing, because there are less brain-hemorrhage-inducing high notes.
I've also known a few men who like to do "girl" songs. One guy used to do 4 Non-Blondes's "What's Up?" just to see the funny looks on the faces in the audience.
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