If you went to the kick-off of the eighth annual Karaoke World Championships expecting some of the off-key, cringe-worthy barroom belting of 1980s ballads karaoke is known for, you would have come away sorely disappointed.

Instead, the first night of the competition in Moscow on Thursday featured 31 talented singers from Kazakhstan to the Faroe Islands vying for two record deals, a shot at stardom and one million Russian dumplings courtesy of the event's sponsor.

"You have to be like the artist, but you have to put your two cents in," said 30 year-old Edward Pimentel of Albuquerque, N.M., trying to explain how the competition is like the karaoke most of us know. Except here, if you look at the lyrics on the stage monitor, you get points deducted.

"This is more like the Olympics of Karaoke," said Team USA's self-described mentor Brian Scott when asked how the competition differs from other amateur singing contests like American Idol. "It's a lot different, karaoke, than those types of reality shows. This is more like an Olympic event for all the countries of the world."

ABSnews

On passing in Moscow World championship on karaoke after 2 days of presentations from the 31 participants, there were only these were included in the original Top 10 women and top 10 men.

On August  18th and 19, 2010, the finale of  Karaoke Without Borders will be held at Moscow karaoke club "Duets",  and will be presented on the first Russian-speaking American TV Channel MAKSTV (www.makstv.tv) as well as via the  Internet on  LIVE.TV (TV-L.RU).More than 100 participants from cities throughout Russia will compete for the right to represent their country for the first time at this annual forum, scheduled in Moscow from September 23 - 25, 2010. The jury will have the difficult task to select four lucky winners (two men and two women), who will represent Russia at the prestigious KWC competition.

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THE HISTORY OF CHAMPIONSHIP

The Karaoke World Championship (KWC) is known worldwide as the largest and most prestigious annual karaoke event.  KWC unites participants from all continents, regardless of nationality or religion, through music and song. Few activities draw people together without dependence on one?s native tongue or language. The song is what truly joins and unites people from the many different countries of the world. According to the KWC's official rules, no more than two representatives from each country (a male and a female) may take part in the competition. Last year's Karaoke World Championship was held in Lahti, Finland in September 2009. Participants were represented from Austria, Australia, Cameroon, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Latvia, Lebanon, Germany, Portugal, the USA, and many other countries.

2009 marked the third championship in which a team from Russia participated, consisting of winners selected during Karaoke Without Borders,  the preliminary selection competition, held  in Moscow at the karaoke club "Duets, an official partner of  KWC.

COMPETITION WINNERS

In the previous final, a male contestant from Ireland  was named the victor, while Russian representative Dr. Fyodor Rytikov ranked among the top ten.  In the women's competition, the first ever winner was Natalia Piljutina, a real estate expert, marking Russia?s first ever top finish in the competition. Considering Russia's success in The Karaoke World Championships (KWC) in 2009, KWC's Organizing Committee selected Moscow  as the location for the 2010 competition final.

Karaoke Without Borders  - Selection Competition For The Karaoke World Championship 2010

The 2010 Russian National Selection Competition Karaoke Without Borders launched on December 16, 2009. Karaoke Without Borders was created to determine the best karaoke contestants from Russia who will participate and represent the country in The Karaoke World Championships (KWC) 2010. Karaoke Without Borders is overseen by Organizing Committee  KWC-Russia represented by The School of Duets , an official partner of KWC.