Rumour has it the bigwigs of karaoke were crammed into a secret meeting room last week, drowning their sorrows in alcopops and belting out misery ballads. Why? Because two of entertainment’s buzziest names threatened to pull the plug on the entire industry. “Karaoke should be banned in my opinion. I’ve never had an enjoyable experience,” said Paul Mescal in an interview to promote new film All of Us Strangers. His co-star Andrew Scott agreed: “I’m not a fan of karaoke, I’m not. There’s a kind of anxiety, which is like, ‘Is this ever gonna end?’” . Scott’s complaint – that karaoke seemingly never ends – rings true, at least when it comes to film and TV. Over the last couple of years, our big screens have been filled with characters staring at slightly smaller screens, clutching cheap microphones and singing along to trashy classics.
Ironically, Mescal himself features in one of the most gut-hollowing examples of the last couple of years, in Charlotte Wells’s “tear de force” Aftersun. At a package holiday karaoke night, Calum (Mescal) realises that his daughter Sophie has put their name down to perform. As applause echoes around the venue, Calum leaves Sophie to go up on her own and mince a performance of Losing My Religion by REM.
