Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008

Get out your rhinestone boots and practise your Stevie Nicks pout! Empty Orchestra Live! is a collision of video visionaries and local karaoke superstars. Ranging from hip hop to Elvis, this special video commission and performance program merges the glitz of Western karaoke with the heartfelt crooning of its Japanese origins. Five performers sing along to new karaoke videos of their favourite songs, freshly commissioned from Canadian video artists by Reel Asian and Gendai Gallery. Empty Orchestra Live! is the second half of a special presentation that examines the history and practices of karaoke as cultural exchange. Karaoke, underneath the disco-ball-and-reverb veneer, is a rich intersection of community, democratized entertainment, personal expression, and politics of identity.

Empty Orchestra Live! is inspired by Toronto’s Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC), which hosts a vibrant Karaoke Club for its members, first-, second-, and third-generation Japanese Canadians, singing in Japanese and English. Founded in 1981, the JCCC Karaoke Club is a regular Saturday-night affair, and transforms the local community lounge into a modest spectacle, rich with personal experience and off-kilter charm.

Drawing from a wealth of kitsch and clichés, karaoke videos are as diverse as their singers. They illuminate karaoke clubs and bars all over the world, often alternating between cheesy American-style music videos and low-budget East Asian soap operas. Karaoke videos highlight/draw the focus on lyrics with syrupy camp and earnest sentimentality, but always allow performers to step up and make the songs their own. Reel Asian’s commissioned video artists take inspiration from the unique visual aesthetics and tradition of karaoke videos and offer new interpretations of the classics. By pairing local performers with video artists from across the country, Empty Orchestra Live! shines a new light on the B-side of music videos.

Nothing brings people together like good tunes and fresh video gems. Empty Orchestra Live!'s performances will be followed by a hot dose of RAMeN, and your chance to stand in the spotlight and belt.

Curated by Heather Keung, Maiko Tanaka and Serena Lee



COMMUNITY SPONSOR: Gendai Gallery