The crowd at the Santa Monica, Calif., bar the Gas Lite was treated to such a performance this month, when “Karen,” a plain-looking young businesswoman with glasses and dark hair, was coaxed to the stage by her fellow officeworkers.
The crowd was stunned when Karen, who prefaced her performance by admitting she usually only sang at the company Christmas parties, nailed two songs by Grammy-winning singer Jewel. Who knew Karen was a diamond in the rough? Or actually, a Jewel in disguise.
Those pranksters at the Will Ferrell-affiliated FunnyorDie.com website put the singer up to pranking the audience. Even after Jewel comes back out as Jewel, some people still didn’t get she had earlier been “Karen.”
All’s well that ends well for Jewel. Not so much for Jimmy Wayne, who tried the same thing this month in Show Low, Ariz.
The singer told The Boot that he entered a karaoke contest using the name “Barry Wong.”
Not only was he “wearing a black cowboy hat and skiing goggles,” Jimmy said, “but I wore a pink tank-top and danced ... let’s not call it dancing.”
While deliberately belting out Brooks & Dunn’s “Neon Moon” off key, Jimmy knew the jig was up when the crowd started booing and the house lights came up. “That meant only one thing,” Jimmy explained, “Get out, and get out fast!”
Hey Jimmy, try a Jewel song next time!
Contact Nancy Wilson, a morning-radio personality at WHKO-FM (K99.1), by e-mail through the website at k99online.com.
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