Luke Kelly had one exciting adventure ahead of him. Not only would he be competing to bring home the gold to Australian shores once more, he would be performing in Moscow, Russia.

Luke was crowned Australia’s Karaoke World Champion 2010 on Saturday, July 24, 2010 at the Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Club on Australia’s fabulous Gold Coast. After six months of trials throughout nearly 100 venues Australia wide, the talent pool was narrowed down until only eleven finalists were left standing in the Australian National Grand Final.

The trip of a lifetime awaited Luke as he jetted off to Moscow, Russia to compete against singers from nearly 30 different countries in the karaoke event of the year in September, 2010.

With his support team in tow, Luke arrived in the Russian capital ready to take on the world.

The party began with the official launch party at Club Duets, Moscow’s top karaoke club on Wednesday night, where Luke mingled and met with other competitors and organisers from around the world. After the official speeches, the official performance order draw took place for the first two rounds of competition. Luke drew lucky number 13 for his first performance and number 4 for his second. The night continued with karaoke into the wee hours in three separate, opulent karaoke rooms with amazing sound systems as singers relaxed before the first big day of competition.

Thursday morning and Luke made his way to the official venue, Forum Hall, for sound check and last minute preparations. Rehearsals were also underway for the group performance of ‘We Are The World’ – the official KWC anthem. The excitement of the upcoming event was building.

The Russians didn’t disappoint with their opening production featuring a choreographed drumming routine to awaken the senses. The room looked like a palace. The lighting and stage production that was set for each performer had them feeling like superstars. This was the world finals of the Karaoke World Championships.

Luke took to the stage with his first round performance of the Tom Jones’ hit, ‘Kiss’ – showing the audience not only his vocal ability, but also his moves and charisma. 31 singers took to the stage that night, each showing a diverse range of entertainment. This was going to be a tough competition.

Day two and each singer had the chance to show their versatility with their second song. Luke’s choice was ‘This Is The Moment’. He won the audience with a phenomenal display of lung capacity with a final note that seemed to last forever. Luke had secured his spot in the top ten.

Saturday and day three – with the talent pool now narrowed down to the top ten men and women the competition was heating up. Round three would be the make or break round. Only five men and five women would progress through to the next round. Luke had his work cut out for him.

The Russian opening entertainment took to the stage with traditional folk singing and dancing that had the crowd on their feet. Thomas N’evergreen, one half of Danish duo ‘Chanée & N’evergreen’, performed Denmark’s 2010 Eurovision entry, ‘In A Moment Like This’.

Luke opted for an Australian world wide hit from John Paul Young – ‘Love Is In The Air’. Moving down into the crowd, Luke danced with his supporters as the world’s film crews looked on, putting Luke onto world wide news bulletins around the world and a place in the top five.

Now it was down to the wire. The competition was strong. A place in the top five was an achievement within itself. Luke gave everything for his performance of ‘I, Who Have Nothing’.

Everyone waited in anticipation for the announcement. The talent level was so high, it was anyone’s game. 2011 was to be Finland’s year, for the first time in KWC history, as they took out both the male and female categories. Russia took out a double second place with USA winning the bronze for the women and Austria for the men.

Edward Pimental from the USA won the audience vote and was awarded 1,000,000 pelmenies, a very tasty traditional Russian dumpling – enough to feed him everyday for 27 years.

Luke did his country proud and has kept up tradition with Australia placing in the top five every year. He said he has had the most amazing experience just being a part of the competition, right from venue level through to the world finals. It’s certainly the opportunity of a lifetime.

Luke’s advice to future KWC Champions and competitors
I believe it’s important to choose songs that you love and know you will smash out of the park! If you can open with a song that gives people a bit of a ‘wow’ moment, it will a) allow you to relax and have fun, b) draw the audience in and make sure they’re engaged and c) make sure people don’t forget you, even if you’re on first. This was my strategy from the first heat to the world final.

My last piece of advice is to remember that you’re telling a story….no matter how fluffy the song may seem. It’s not just ballads that have a narrative, even ‘Kiss’ (Tom Jones) has a story to tell, so find whatever the message is and communicate that to the audience. You’ll see they will get more out of the song if you are telling the story!