Local karaoke hosts share their love for the underrated form of entertainment

“Sing with me! You know the words!” Vince Ramirez shouts to the crowd at Backaracks in between verses of a country song. The room is packed, as it is every Wednesday evening, and singers of all types and talents take the stage to roaring applause, hoots and hollers.

“Even if you can’t sing, Paula Thompson of DJ SKIT Productions said. “I don’t care. You’re going to be having fun. You can’t sing, so what? We’re all there to have fun. We don’t care. …We’re not professional. We’re there to have fun. And that’s all there is to it.”

Thompson has been in the karaoke business as a host for over a decade, but has been attending karaoke nights for longer.

“Back when I was in college, I started going to a bar that used to exist on the Wyoming-Nebraska state line. … I’ve always loved to sing, so once I got into karaoke, I just stuck with it,” she said. “I just kind of followed it anywhere. (I) even went to Deadwood one time and found a karaoke bar. (I) traveled to Chicago with my husband to see his sister for Thanksgiving and found a karaoke bar. I got to go anywhere.”

When she started dating her late husband, she took up DJ-ing.

“It’s funny because he wasn’t much of a singer. We would be doing a karaoke show and somebody would be like, ‘How can you be running a karaoke show if you don’t want to sing?’ And he goes, ‘Because that’s what I got her for.’”

When her husband died in a car crash seven years ago, it was actually karaoke that helped her through the dark time.

“If it wouldn’t have been for singing, I probably wouldn’t have made it through my husband’s death. I went right back into singing because I knew that he loved it. He loved hearing me. I love doing it,” she said. “…When I lost him, I just continued doing it because I love it. It carries on his legacy. I kept his company name.”

Thompson isn’t the only person who found solace in karaoke. Doc Hollywood of Hollywood Entertainment got into the entertainment form after having a rough time assimilating to civilian life following his time in the military.

“When I came back to the States, when I got out of the Marine Corps, there were still some issues, so music is what helped me get by,” he said.

He first started out in a band, then started helping out with the sound system for another group. Finally, he decided it was time for him to begin his own show.

“I started doing karaoke myself — it’s probably around (19)91-92 in Montana. … It’s been, since 1991, that I owned Hollywood Entertainment,” he said. “We started doing everything from DJ to karaoke to comedy shows, magic shows, because I do all that. I’m a professional magician, comedian, impressionist, singer. So, I’m an entertainer.”

Hollywood, who came to the Panhandle area about 17 years ago, doesn’t do nearly as many shows as he used to — at one point, while he was on the Florida scene, he had three different systems running seven days a week. Now he does one to two shows a week, on top of his small business at the Uptown Scottsbluff mall.

Still, he doesn’t plan to ever completely give up providing entertainment to people, especially karaoke, even though there are people he’s encountered who don’t consider karaoke a true form of entertainment.

“I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘Karaoke is not real music.’ And I always return that with ‘Every boy band that has become famous is a karaoke band,’” Hollywood said. “They don’t play their own instruments. They don’t sing their own songs. Someone else is playing their music and they’re just singing to it. So, I don’t see it (karaoke) as any less of an entertainment venue.”

At the end of the day, it’s about having a good time, Hollywood said.

“The people come in, they have fun. The people that don’t want to sing actually enjoy a lot of it. … There’s always someone who comes up and goes, ‘Hey, I don’t want to sing, but can someone sing this song?’ Everybody kind of gets involved, and it’s good.

“…There are singers out there that just get up to have fun, and they don’t care if they’re good or not. And those are my favorite people,” he said. “They’re the ones that don’t just sit up there and sing the song. They get up; they jump around and dance. I’ve seen them get up on bars. That’s entertainment. They don’t have to be great singers, if they’re great entertainers.”

Hollywood isn’t the only long-time karaoke host in the area though. Jeff Koza of Koza Karaoke, who hosts the packed house at Backaracks every Wednesday night, has been hosting karaoke since he began with just $6,000 and 500 songs back in 1994.

“Back in early 94 … I was living in Sterling, Colorado, and I went to a karaoke bar a couple times a month anyway, and it got to be where I was either asked to sing with someone or sing for someone,” he said. “And so my dad said, ‘Hey, why don’t you see if you can make money on your own to do it.’ … And the rest is history.”

Koza now boasts over 100,000 songs, and it’s everything from country to rap to show tunes.

“I always advertise umpteen-thousand,” he said.

Koza said he continues his long run of hosting karaoke because he loves helping people. While karaoke isn’t a typical profession one may think of as “serving people,” for Koza, it is, especially after a time when people weren’t able to socialize.

“I enjoy helping people have a good time and sound well, sound good,” he said. “…It’s a real confidence booster … And, karaoke is a reason for people to get together. It’s something that a lot of people have in common, whether it be singing or singing with someone or listening. It’s just a social (thing).”

That social aspect is what all three karaoke hosts love about their job. All three have loyal and dedicated followings from local karaoke-ers, and because of hosts like these three, karaoke in the Panhandle is more than just a night out at the bar.

For Thompson, it’s keeping a legacy alive; for Hollywood, it’s bringing joy to people; for Koza, it’s helping them.

For all three, plus their slew of fans, it’s about the community.

“I’ve got a lot of what I would call family from it,” Thompson said. “I mean, they’re friends, but most of them are closer. And … we’ve got quite a following, and they just — it’s nice to have them all show up at your gig and support you.”

Koza said, “It’s a camaraderie and we just kind of — if we can’t keep the karaoke going, then it dies and I don’t want it to die.”

Hollywood said, “When it all comes down to it, it’s a group effort. It has to do with the community, has to do with the businesses, has to do with the karaoke hosts. And, it has to do with the customers who come in that want to enjoy those shows and want to be part of those shows.”

Thompson typically hosts at The Badly Bent on Monday nights and Oasis on Thursday nights. Koza typically hosts at Brothers 27th St. Wings and Burgers on Tuesday nights and Backaracks on Wednesday nights. Hollywood typically hosts at the Branding Iron in Bayard on Saturday nights.

Anyone interested in following karaoke in the Panhandle more closely can contact Thompson about being added to the karaoke Facebook chat, where updates on gigs are posted regularly.

*Originally published in the Star-Herald on Dec. 26, 2021.