Hayward Karaoke Studio

I was a little scared to try to place at first, since it's tucked away on an odd part of Mission Blvd -- with its fancy neon sign glowing amongst a mainly empty, badly kept parking lot -- but I'm glad I gave it a shot! This was my first time at a private-room karaoke studio and it was just as fun as a karaoke bar, despite the lack of drunk "Sweet Caroline" singers.

I came with a group of 8, so we were in one of the medium-sized rooms which we made our home for almost five hours. The place is decorated in carpet and art which glows under black lights, but it's definitely more cozy than clubby (although it sort of also made me want to play laser tag). The speakers and other equipment is pretty high-tech, and the song selection is amazing and includes very recent songs. The guy who was working there was friendly and acted more like our buddy than a staff member, which was refreshing and comfortable.

While the song books are packed with the hits, I noticed that there weren't too many country karaoke staples... so if you plan to rock out with your sock out to Garth's "Friends in Low Places," this might not be the place for you. Regardless, we sang everything from Backstreet Boys to Linkin Park; Marvin Gaye to Sir Mix-a-Lot; and, Rihanna to Coldplay.

I was surprised to find that our first hour was taped, but I'm not sure any of us have been drunk enough to actually listen to it yet.

Will I be coming back? Yes ma'am! And I'm bringing all of my friends with me.

Look, I know that I may not look like it, but im actually an amazing singer.  Artist, if you will.  When I jam out in my car I usually get irritated that someone like Alicia Keyes as a record deal when CLEARLY, my version of Girl on Fire is superior.  Unfortunately, this has also become a problem when I went out to enjoy the ancient art of Karaoke.  Once I take the stage, the Karaoke host of the evening usually cancels everyone else's songs and asks me for an impromptu concert.  This makes half the bar mad, the other half absolutely thrilled to get to hear my stellar pipes for another couple of hours.  Sometimes a guy just wants to hang out with his friends and not have to be bombarded with screaming fans begging for your autograph and pictures all night long, it gets old quick.  

Okay, lets be real.  I know im not a great singer, I can carry a tune, but it ain't anything to write home about.    I've done the normal karaoke in the bars with all sorts of strangers watching and listening, and it can be fun, but once you get into I hate having to wait for what seems like EVER for your name to come back around.  Plus, I'm not always in the mood to be outgoing and let people listen to my less-than-mediocre singing.  Here you get your own private room with a karaoke database with SO MANY SONGS.    When my and my friend go here we have the best time.. seriously.   I love hearing so many other groups singing their hearts out when I leave the room.. it makes me smile no matter how awful they are.  

Lets not forget Jason at the front desk.. absolutely the coolest guy ever.  It makes my day everytime we show up and he is there, always good conversation and nothing but the best customer service possible.  A+, Hayward Karaoke Studio.. see you tomorrow night.

Private rooms.  Huge binders.  Crappy videos.

It's kinda hard to rate this place.  There's a big list of pros and cons.  I guess I'll have to just try that.

Pros--

- They record your first hour of singing and burn it to a CD for you.
- Karaoke in Hayward.
- Nice clean private rooms.
- Different sized rooms for bigger or smaller groups.
- Huge binders full of tons of songs.
- They have a bar on site.
- Open until 2am every day.  Even Sunday.

Cons-

- They record your first hour of singing and burn it to a CD for you.  (Yes, it is both a pro and a con.  Sometimes its better if you don't ever hear yourself.)
- The binders are outdated.  A lot of the codes for songs do not work anymore.
- There is no alcohol allowed in the private rooms.
- A lot of the videos are HORRIBLE.  Very old, generic.
- A lot of the lyrics are off.  Like REALLY off.
- Although they have a lot of songs for artists, they sometimes don't have the ones they're most famous for.

The pros and cons kinda even each other out i guess, so the place gets a 3 star rating.  If you don't feel like driving to SF, its alright for the east bay.  I'd go back if I somehow was in the mood for it again.