Are you a natural-born performer, belting out the hits in the shower at home, but freezing up the moment you're in front of an audience? Sadly, I know the feeling, which is why I jumped at the chance to join some of the HELLO! team at BAM Karaoke Box in Victoria. In every friendship group, there's always one person who groans at the prospect of warming up the vocal chords for a night of karaoke – and that person is me. I will happily be the number one backing singer, or even an enthusiastic backing dancer, for that matter, but I was not built for centre stage.
That's where BAM's 22 private rooms come in handy. Hosting specific numbers from intimate settings for 1 - 4, to huge social gatherings of 17 - 35, the karaoke rooms were inspired by London’s original bonne vivante, Nell Gwyn and feature 18th-century décor that screams decadence.
After steeling my nerves with a delicious spicy margarita in the dimly-lit BAM BAM Bar next to the main karaoke stage, we left the buzz of the public's Thursday night celebrations behind and headed into the Pink Carriage Room. Decorated with soft blue patterned walls, golden sofas and a table, where the eight of us could perch our drinks while we queued up our favourite hits, it offered the perfect spot for our evening of performances.
Admittedly, I still wasn't the first person to grab the microphone, but by the end of our hour's session, we were enjoying ourselves so much (with my questionable rendition of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' included) that we extended our time in the room by another 30 minutes. And with the ability to order more drinks directly to the room, we didn't have to break from our song streak for even a moment.
For those of us who hadn't yet lost our voices, we continued the night after our time in the booth was over, and joined the rest of the crowd for the open mic night. While watching impressive vocal performances from the crowd, including a sweet couple's love song, we were even tempted to queue up our own song ready to take to the stage.
In retrospect, I'm glad my train timetable didn't allow me to stay long enough to torture the rest of the public with my performance. But at the time, I had developed enough confidence to at least give it a try – and what more can you want from a girls' night out?
The only thing I regret is not having time to get a bite to eat at the outdoor summer terrace and missing out on events like the music trivia night. Maybe using my knowledge about other people's music is where I'll shine in future!