Karaoke Fever’s Dark Side : As the Sing-Along Studios Sprout, So Can Problems, Officials Say

Gold stars with the names of such celebrities as Michael Jackson and Madonna adorn the doors of the 11 private rooms at Elvis!? Karaoke Studios. Small, mirrored rooms lined with cozy wall sofas are rented by the hour so patrons can belt out their favorite tunes--in privacy or in the company of friends and family.

Inside the “Michael Jackson” room, Michelle Liu and Kevin Pan, both 22, take turns with the microphone. Liu sings along in Chinese; Pan chooses Korean. Both confess that they are karaoke addicts.

“I prefer this to bars because you don’t have to sing in front of other people and make a fool of yourself,” said Liu, an Irvine resident. Called KTV--karaoke television--these private rooms for pop star wanna-bes are a growing form of entertainment, especially for teen-agers and young adults, studio owners say.

“You get a room to yourself and your friends and you can sing until your heart’s content--and you can pretend to be whoever you want to be,” said Jim Walker, a part owner of Elvis!? Karaoke Studios. “It’s good clean fun.”

In the studios, customers sing along to recorded music as the lyrics to songs are broadcast on a television screen. While the customers don’t dress up, they do take tambourines.

But as their popularity has grown, karaoke studios in other parts of the Southland have attracted people interested in more than just singing inside the private studio rooms. There have reportedly been drug and alcohol use, Asian gang-related problems, shootings, assaults and suspected prostitution at some studios.

In Arcadia, there were two shootings in one studio, a drive-by shooting attributed to Asian gangs at another and alcohol violations reported at a third. Because of the problems, Arcadia has imposed a moratorium on opening new karaoke studios until a study is completed on how to better regulate the businesses.

Karaoke studios have caused a “great deal of problems,” said Arcadia Police Capt. Dave H. Hinig. He said cities should be concerned about karaoke studios because they can attract crime.

As Orange County cities receive more requests to open such businesses, city officials are attempting to establish better regulations over security, construction dimensions, accessibility and visibility.

“What we are afraid of is (letting this studio) become like the (studios) we read about in San Gabriel Valley,” said Gabriel Elliott, an associate planner in Costa Mesa, referring to a karaoke studio that recently opened in the city.

“In some communities there’s been gang activity and prostitution, and if we don’t act now, we might find ourselves in the same situation as other cities,” Elliott said. “It’s a new concept to Costa Mesa. . . . We think it’s a pretty clean operation, but we don’t want to leave the possibility of it becoming something else.”

Garden Grove City Councilman Mark Leyes agreed that his city is grappling with ways to regulate these businesses to avoid problems.

“We need to figure out what is appropriate and what’s working in other cities . . . and come up with some suitable regulations,” he said.

Karaoke was born 25 years ago in Japan. In recent years, the sing-along rage has caught on here in restaurants, bars, lounges and coffee houses.

More recently, karaoke studios, which cater mostly to Asians and attract a crowd too young to get into bars, are beginning to sprout up everywhere.

In Orange County, there are karaoke studios in Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa and Garden Grove. A 23-room studio was recently approved in Stanton. Other studios are to open in Fountain Valley and Garden Grove.

The cost of opening a studio depends on the equipment, the number of rooms and the location--but it can be more than $300,000, Walker said.

Walker said he intends to keep his establishment a safe place, where teen-agers, younger adults and families can have a good time singing their favorite songs into a microphone.

“We’ve had no problems whatsoever. I keep my fingers crossed,” said Walker, who opened the 11-room studio a year ago in a storefront at McDonald’s Plaza off Brookhurst Street and Garfield Avenue in Fountain Valley. It is located in a shopping center of mostly Asian businesses. It was the first in Orange County.

“If you let people drink in an atmosphere like this with little booths, there’s no way to control it,” Walker said.

Steve Itani, vice president and general manager of El Monte-based Nikkodo U.S.A. Inc., a leading manufacturer of karaoke equipment, said cities have a misunderstanding about the concept of a karaoke studio.

“City councils, police or city administrators do have confusion in dealing with karaoke studios because the popularity of them is so rapid, they treat them like a video arcade back in the ‘70s,” Itani said. Back then, “all of a sudden a video arcade opened, attracting a lot of people and if people gather, they worry about the violence.”

As a result of cities’ fears, Nikkodo is offering its assistance in providing education and helping cities address concerns, Itani said.

“We don’t want people to think of karaoke as night entertainment that’s related to alcohol, or that it’s a negative business in the neighborhood,” he said. “We want to let them understand that karaoke is family fun entertainment.”

Itani said the company has established a toll-free number for cities to call and has already assisted the cities of Costa Mesa, El Monte and Commerce.

Andrew Perea, Fountain Valley’s advanced associate planner, said there were some concerns from staff that karaoke studios opening in the city could turn into private party rooms.

But in Fountain Valley and other Orange County cities, officials have imposed stiff guidelines and regulations to avoid potential problems, including a limit on the hours of operation; a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages, and requirements that studios have windows and be lighted when occupied.

“We have to keep it clean. If you don’t have rules, we’re going to fail and have problems because parents won’t let their kids come anymore,” said Walker of Elvis!? Karaoke Studios.

“We wanted to make this a family type of recreation, a place to bring children and (a place) for friends,” added Lisa Tsuzuki, who is opening a 15-room karaoke studio called “Only You” in Fountain Valley Plaza. Tsuzuki said the studio will be brightly decorated instead of offering a darker, club-type atmosphere.

Fountain Valley Police Chief Elvin G. Miali said police are monitoring karaoke studios to make sure crime does not occur. “We’re not going to have them turn into a hangout,” he said. “And we do watch them quite closely.”

Miali said that preventing problems “takes an owner who lays down the rules and enforces them.”

In Garden Grove, Police Investigator Bill Johnson said there have been some minor problems at a karaoke studio in the 8800 block of Garden Grove Boulevard. Johnson said the owner was sent a letter by the Planning Commission of violations of the restricted hours of operation imposed by the city. Youths have been loitering outside the studio, Johnson said.

Employees of the studio said there have been no problems. The owner was out of town and not available for comment,

The karaoke studio, tucked inside Seoul Plaza, is allowed to remain open only until 11 p.m. “It’s stayed open well after midnight,” Johnson said.

Johnson said police have not been called because of problems at the studio. However, he said police are keeping a close eye on activities there.

Johnson said the Garden Grove Police Department does have concerns about loitering and the potential for karaoke studios attracting gang activity. “We do have Asian gang problems in Garden Grove and we don’t want any more,” he said. “This seems to be a loitering place.”