It’s 9.15pm and the bar smells of beer and delusion. The din surrounding me sounds so awful it’s as though my ears have been hate-crimed. A man I’ve never met, and never want to, is committing an act of manslaughter before my eyes. He’s murdering John Farnham’s You’re The Voice. He certainly is the voice – the voice of torture.

Pavanoti has been drinking copiously. When it gets to the “whooooooaaaaaaas” in the chorus, what he lacks in ability he makes up for with volume and enthusiasm. Yes, he’s someone’s son, but he sounds like a wounded animal.

I’m witnessing a crime. “He’s murdering John Farnham’s You’re The Voice.”Credit: Jacky Ghossein

Next, a Grease duet between a pair believing they’re Danny and Sandy, but are Kenickie and Frenchy at best. It sounds like purgatory. After that, a solo woman “sings” a nondescript ballad so forlorn that purgatory now sounds like paradise.

Now a fellow gay bounces up to sing an “underrated” number supporting his diva’s flop era. Nobody knows the words, except me, for which I am quite ashamed. However, I do what he should have done. I stay silent.

Finally – oh please God, no – a man whose mother/bestie/girlfriend lied by saying he could sing stumbles confidently on stage. The opening bars of Robbie Williams’ Angels strike up. If my head fitted in my pint glass, I’d drown myself in it.

This scene has been repeated across pubs, bars and, sadly, restaurants worldwide for 57 years, since karaoke’s invention in 1967. Last week, the man widely credited with the invention of the karaoke box – Shigeichi Negishi – died aged 100.

Karaoke literally translates as “empty orchestra” and is every bit as soulless as that sounds.Credit:

His invention, folklore has it, started as a joke, an act of banter-led-oneupmanship between colleagues. Consumer-electronics whiz Negishi was singing in the factory and his chief engineer mocked his tuneless tones. An idea was born: Negishi attached a microphone to a tape deck to hear himself over a radio show, and simultaneously tease his long-suffering colleague by amplifying his voice.

Now those with equally poor singing abilities ruin an otherwise perfectly good night out in a pub. Sad to hear of Negishi’s passing, but wouldn’t be sad to hear that his invention died with him. May they both rest in peace, so that my ears can.