Karaoke

Calling all karaoke fans

Otakuthon offers several free karaoke blocks over the span of the Cosplay Café programming. A fully equipped mini-stage is available for participants who want to have fun and take on the challenge of singing in public... in front of your fellow otaku! A catalog of Japanese songs is available on site. From J-Pop to anime theme songs, we have a wide variety of songs to choose from. You can also suggest songs by writing to our Cosplay Café team (cosplaycafe@otakuthon.com).

Karaoke Contest

Are you gifted in karaoke? Enter our karaoke contest on Saturday night! Every year, participants are invited to enter the competition on the spot and perform in front of a panel of judges. Prizes to be won for participants and entertainment for the public!

Official Rules and Procedures

Rules and Guidelines

• Contestants must sing alone; no group or duet performances allowed.
• Contestants may choose one song from Jpop, Jrock, Visual-Kei, anime, manga, game, musical or Enka sources or may choose to sing an original song.
• The song must be Japanese and at least 75% of all the lyrics must be in Japanese. Full English anime or game songs will be rejected (ex: Real Emotion, Melodies of Life, etc.).
• The song may be no shorter than 2 minutes and no longer than 6 minutes.
• The contestant must provide a USB key with an official karaoke track and a lyrics file of the song (optional if the singer knows the lyrics by heart) that he or she will be performing if the song doesn't exist in our music database. CD or any other formats are not accepted. The karaoke track must not have been modified in any way from the original (ie: no vocal cuts, remixing, or additional editing).
• Lip-syncing will not be permitted.
• At any time, Café Cosplay staff can remove the right of participation of a contestant if he/she doesn't respect the official rules of the karaoke contest or the convention rules and policies (as stated in the Otakuthon website and in the program booklet.)

Karaoke Contest Procedures

• The contest will be held in the Cosplay Café at the convention center (Palais des congrès de Montréal, 7th floor).
• Registration for contestants and members of the jury will be done by lottery from amongst the participants present at the designated time. The start of registration for the karaoke contest will be announced at the Cosplay Café approximately one hour before the contest. Contestants must be ready to perform when called to the mini-stage. They will need to fill out a form prior to the contest (ie: name, song, etc.) and submit their USB with the karaoke track (if not found in our database) of the song they will perform.
• Contestants can perform their song with or without a lyrics sheet.
• The contestants will be asked once again to come up on stage to receive their prize.
• The members of the jury must be present for the whole duration of the contest and fill out each contestant’s evaluation sheet. 

For more information about activities taking place on the mini-stage, visit the Cosplay Café page.