Karaoke in Jamaica

By far one of the most entertaining venues I’ve ever experienced in Jamaica! I’ll tell you how we ended up there and things you’ll want to know about being there.

On a Tuesday night in Ocho Rios, my friend and I wanted to find something to do. It was after 10pm and we decided to start walking down the dark, winding road from our guest house to a main street. (Not advisable alone). We know from experience that when you have nothing to do all you need is a local to tell you where to go. We also know from experience that two white females walking the streets after dark always find a local to help out.

As we approached the main road a car pulled over and the man inside asked if we were lost and okay. I’m guessing he was surprised to see us walking down the hill after dark. We just told him we’re walking to town to find something to do, at which point he advised the ONLY thing to do on Tuesday night was karaoke. My first thought was “What? Are we in Asia? Karaoke?” The man, named Adrian, insisted that we check out Oceans 11 for karaoke. He identified himself as a local firefighter who was on his way home from work to clean up, and would soon be going to Oceans 11. He offered to drive us there and them come join us later. Of course we accept….because we’re not supposed to.

There is no “nutshell” to describe Oceans 11. I’ll give you the important details first. Its located in the western end of Ocho Rios, if you want to find it EVERYONE knows where it is. The cover charge is $200 JMD but essentially its free because with your admission you get a $200 voucher to put towards your tab. They serve a variety of food and alcohol. For $600 JMD (approx $8.50 US) you get a whole bottle of Appleton and a bottle of Pepsi, with some cups and ice. What a deal! Liquid courage so you can get up and sing later. They have a huge assortment of North American songs to sing, along with popular reggae tunes. Oceans 11 is outdoors and sits on the waterfront, a really nice atmosphere.

Fun things about Oceans 11

• I’ve never seen so many fine young Jamaican men who sound like old, white American country crooners! If you closed your eyes you’d NEVER know the difference. It’s amazing really, Jamaica has talent!

• It’s definitely a locals hangout. In the two Tuesday nights I went, the place was packed but I think I saw a total of 4 tourists each time.

• Only in Jamaica will you hear a “pulllll up” in the middle of a karaoke love song. For those who don’t know, when a crowd yells “pull up” or “pull it” in the middle of any song, it means they want the DJ to start the song over and play it again. It’s not a bad thing, its actually a great thing because they love the song. Sometimes the DJ himself does it.

• Random Jamaicans are MORE than happy to accompany you on stage and sing back up for you! Every time we went up to sing the MC would announce, “and again we have Ashley, Kristi and random guys!” But this is not always a good thing as you will see in the videos I posted below.

Video #1 – This is a full-blooded, patois speaking Jamaican youngster singing this tune! Poor video quality but all you need are ears! And listen carefully for the DJ doing “pull it, pull it”!

Videos #2 and #3 – LISTEN AT YOUR OWN RISK! We are NOT bad singers but this is what random Jamaicans can do to a song. They butchered it and I’ve never had so much fun!