Article edited 03/21/06

It is a cool, quiet night in Campustown. A few festive partiers have come out on this Thursday night, but, for the most part, people seem to be waiting for the weekend’s excitement to begin.

At the Bali Satay House, 2424 Lincoln Way, a number of blue monitors and a microphone quietly power up. Bali bartender Campbell DeSousa hands a slip of paper with his first selection of the night up to the control room.

Taking the stage, he serenades the near-empty bar room; the sound of his performance flowing out the door and down the street — karaoke night has begun.

Drawn by a combination of the music and ritual, patrons begin streaming into the bar in groups of two and three. Ordering their first drinks and carrying on lively conversations, they begin to study the list of available songs.

This system of putting each other on the spot is made possible by a high familiarity between the Bali’s most devoted customers. Bali regular Benjamin Pribyl, junior in business, says familiar faces are one of the reasons he comes to karaoke nights at Bali Satay.

“It’s like family, about everybody knows each other, even the people who are afraid to sing, we help them out,” Pribyl says.

Having a forgiving audience of friends and acquaintances is not always incentive enough to take the stage. Many karaoke participants are not shy to acknowledge liquid courage is an important ingredient in shrugging off stage fright and smoothing the line between the undiscovered talents and inharmonious ear-pluggers.

Ashley Daugherty, junior in marketing, says that although she and her friends sing just for fun and don’t worry about how they sound, the decision to take the stage still takes some priming.

“We only sing when we’re drunk,” she says.

Song choices range from The Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water” to Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” Suddenly controversy erupts, two groups have signed up to sing Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” The conflict is swiftly resolved as both groups take the stage together, calling up more of their friends for a multi-singer tour de-force.

Karaoke is a relatively new attraction to Bali Satay, but has become a regular Thursday night event this summer.

DeSousa says he has already noticed a slightly different atmosphere developing on karaoke nights as well as another less positive pattern.

“It’s much louder,” he says. “Not the music so much as the people — people start coming in because their friends tell them and pretty soon, it’s no tips for me.”

Another reason participants are eager to point out their regular attendance is their fondness for Bali Satay owner Iwan Muljadi.

Muljadi returns the enthusiastic sentiment for his best customers.

“We love them because they always supported this place from day one,” he says .

His close relationship with his patrons, however, does not stop him from taking an objective point of view on their karaoke skills.

“When people get here you can see how they sing when they aren’t wasted, but once they get drunk, they are screaming,” Muljadi says.