Karaoke exists in a world of its own.  The thrill of flipping through massive song books to determine which love ballad or breakaway pop hit you are going to dazzle the audience with next. The anticipation of waiting to see if your song is called next and the utter disappointment when you realize that the person next to you was called up to sing their rendition of a Dolly Parton hit.

Gay Karaoke – as it is with most things gay – is a subculture within that world; one that has its own language and decorum.  Here are some of the things that one will find if you attend gay karaoke. 

Without fail, at some portion of the night, a gaggle of lesbians will invariably go up and perform the same cycle of three songs; “Am I the Only One” by Melissa Etheridge, “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette, and  “Piece of my Heart” by Janis Joplin. Basically anything that has an angry hard rock edge best performed with a raspy smoker’s voice.

Similarly, a flock of gays will also seek to dominate the Karaoke playlist by putting in their own set of requests. These often include a wide assortment of classic iconic divas – Cher, Bette, Whitney -, a medley of Lady Gaga songs for good measure, and a sprinkling of campy, light-hearted Broadway musicals. In other words, we effortlessly fulfill the cultural stereotypes of our people. Also, with the popular success of the show GLEE, queens (including myself) are taking center stage as if they were Lea Michele – unfortunately most of us are not.

In my personal opinion, the best place for Gay Karaoke in Reno is the Patio Bar located on 5^thstreet across from Beto’s. The warm and inviting atmosphere is the perfect place for you and your group of friends – regardless of your sexual orientation. On top of that, Riley – one of the best Karaoke DJs in town – blows patrons away with her cool, seductive Spanish songs or beautiful love ballads. Perhaps when I go back to get my Masters I will major in queer studies and focus on the underground world of Gay Karaoke and get paid to traverse to Gay Karaoke establishments throughout the country – I wouldn’t hate it ;)

GLEE came into my life an a very important juncture in my life. The High School Musical trilogy had come to a close and I was desperately seeking upbeat breakaway pop hits and flashy musical numbers … and then GLEE entered the picture. It was safe to say that all my friends and I were addicted from the second the show begin. Of course, the defining moment for us was the final number – Journey's Don't Stop Believing. The rendition brought tears to my eyes and promptly my roommate and I rewinded the episode on our DVR 15 times or so to watch the epically moving and awe-inspiring performance. From then on the show has read my mind and has transformed some of my favorite jams into show stopping numbers leaving me all sorts of verklempt. Everything from “No Air”, “Somebody to Love”, “Endless Love”, “Don't Rain on my Parade”, and of course “Defying Gravity”.

Ecstatic, would be an understatement, for how I felt about the premiere of GLEE. Too long I had gone without new GLEE numbers to add my itunes. In some ways it's scary how much the producers of GLEE are specifically tailoring the song choices in the show to fit MY needs. I swear it's some weird mind connection bullshit, where they see the most played songs in my itunes library and then redoing them in a more perfect way. For example, this week's episode had Mercedes and an entire cheerleading squad belting Christina Aguilera's “Beautiful” - I nearly fainted from the flood of emotions.

I was doing some research online to find out the songs that were featured in this week's episode of GLEE entitled “Home”. Guest starring Kristen Chenowith, the show featured a beautiful perform of Kurt singing “A House is Not a Home” and a duet between Chenowith and Morrison to “One Last Bell to Answer”. As I was doing research online I came across news that the release of the 3^rd album the GLEE enterprise is set to unveil in mid-May. the CD is entitled “SHOWSTOPPERS”. I immediately had the gay gasp and frantically began perusing the songs they have coming up for the rest of the show. Here is the lineup:

1) Hello, Goodbye
2) Gives You Hell
3) Hello
4) A House Is Not A Home
5) One Less Bell To Answer / A House Is Not A Home
6) Beautiful
7) Home
8) Physical
9) Total Eclipse of the Heart
10) Lady Is A Tramp
11) One
12) Rose’s Turn
13) Dream On
14) Safety Dance
15) I Dreamed a Dream
16) Loser
17) Give Up the Funk
18) Beth
19) Poker Face
20) Bad Romance

My gay little brain was not physically, spiritually, nor emotionally prepared to review this disc's set list. I saw that the one and only miss Idina Menzel is singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Mis as well as Poker Face, Jonathon Groff is redoing Bonnie Tyler's “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, and Neil Patrick Harris performing “Dream On”. Just when I thought that GLEE could not become any gayer, fabulous, or generally uplifting they freakin break out Bonnie Tyler, Olivia Newton John, and Lady Gaga – these producers are not playing around.

If this alone did not fulfill my humble but sometimes ridiculous gay dreams, this certainly will. As I was having an epic day of GLEE research I came across photos of Matthew Morrison that not only fulfilled my gay dreams but created a few new ones of their own. However, I swear all I want to do with Matthew Morrison is get married – where all the GLEE cast members would be invited and as a present for us would perform an entire concert that had no less than three duets between Matt and myself – , oh and he will be married in this outfit ---------------------------------->

I just be saying and shit. Similarly, we would try to have four children that would have a long and illustrious career in Broadway and musical theatre. Matthew would of course wear the same outfit to that as he did at our wedding ;) Whether or not Matthew Morrison is gay or not is of little concern – hasn't stopped me in the past – and even though he says things like he has a girlfriend and likes vagina I am willing to hold out. I waited years for Ricky Martin and I could wait even longer for Matthew. Otherwise I will have to vicariously live my life through GLEE. However from now on, I am going to rewatch every episode imagining Matthew Morrison in his little yellow and orange booty shorts. I feel that this change will enhance the overall character and provide more depth to his arc …. or something like that.