Things are settling in, and I have much more free time. I have the basic idea of the ship, the framework of the puzzle, if you will, and am now filling in the picture. I have done most of the activities we host and have my favorites. One of which is karaoke. You remember the old commercial where someone drops a chocolate bar into peanut butter and they go on to say something like “some things are better together”? Well, the same thing applies to alcohol and karaoke. Last night was a hoot! Let me set the scene…
For once I did not have to dance in the 70s show, (thank God), but I was still in my blue-green bedazzled and be-glittered polyester shirt, blond afro wig and big Elton John glasses…I was hosting the karaoke show in the On-Air Bar. It overlapped with the 70s show which was noisily proceeding on its way through the Promenade, so we started a bit late. Of course everyone laughs when they see me in my 70s costume. It helps to remind me why I loathe polyester! At any rate, I was trying to think of an opening song, because I like to open with a song to break the ice and then let the audience go. Earlon is the DJ for the bar. He is a large black man with an unfortunate choice in toupee, but a very nice man. After the first time I had hosted the show and sang a song I asked him if I could bring him a disc with my tracks on them, as I don’t like the choices that are there for the guests and would rather sing something I know. He said no problem, and so that is what I have done. I like to gauge the audience and then decide the song. I have them all numbered and just tell him which one to play. I decided on my remix of “I Will Survive” in honor of the 70s night.
As I was doing my pre-show banter with the guests getting them warmed up and ready to sing, an elderly woman came up and asked if she could bring someone on stage with her when she sang. I told her of course. Now, in my head I had a picture of the song choice she would choose, but I was totally incorrect! The show started with me introducing the bar staff and the DJ, (I don’t know if the other hosts do this, but I think it is only polite), and jumped into “I Will Survive”. That got them all warmed up. It is the version with the Bulgarian vocals in the back ground and the instrumental breaks that I can fill with dialogue. After tripping on the speakers and otherwise entertaining the crowd, I opened the stage to the first singer. Older gentleman from the Midwest singing a country tune, nicely done. Then another singer, not so great, then the older woman…named Barbara. She brought her back up singers so they made a group of four…and launched into “Jingle Bell Rock!” She was a HUGE hit, everyone singing along, good vocals, and they were having a blast on that stage…that basically set the tone for the night. The place got packed, the singers were pretty good, and everyone was feeling it.
A few songs on a gentleman from Michigan, sang “Copacabana”. Well, the version they had had a very long instrumental break. What does Barbara do? She jumps up and starts dancing with the man, and he ends up turning her into Lola. Standing ovation for both of them, and I just had to reach into my bag and pull out some prizes for them.
Two songs on Barbara, again, jumps up during an instrumental break. This woman was having a blast, and so were we. We had more singers than time, but everyone was having such a good time, that I let the show run over, and when Barbara’s granddaughter asked if she could sing the last song I had to agree, knowing that it would be the perfect way to end the night.
So at almost 2 AM, up Barbara gets for the last song…of course I have advertised it for the last 5 songs that she was the Finale, so everyone was staying. She asked for all the handsome men to join her on stage…and launched into “Big Spender” from “Sweet Charity”! It just felt right, so I got behind her and started doing jazz hands from behind. Another standing O, and the night ended.
This might very well end up on youtube as I saw her granddaughter filming it.
I really like hosting events like this, and I am so thankful for my years in Key West which trained me in this sort of thing. I just keep trying to channel Randy Thompson…but with cleaner language! That banter won’t go over well on the ship!
Today, after 4 hours of
sleep, it was gangway duty and then rehearsal for two hours for the
Dreamworks Parade. This has cost a fortune in costumes and props. It
is going to be beautiful when it premieres in a couple weeks. All the
Dreamworks Family, (Kung Fu Panda characters, Madagascar characters and
those from How to Train Your Dragon), are involved, and the colors,
costumes, set pieces, aerial acrobatics are truly amazing. It will take
up the entire Promenade when it is done. I will try to let everyone
know theday so they can watch it on the live cam.
I am feeling a little run down, and have developed a cough, which I hope will go away soon. I have started taking lots of Vitamin C to bounce it out of my system. There are sanitizing hand stations all over the ship in guest and crew areas, and I am usually really careful to use them. I might have to be more careful.
Last night after the karaoke session I was in too good of a mood and too pumped up to go to bed, so I changed into my civvies and headed up to the Blown Away deck on deck 18. The only way to get there is the aft (rear of the ship) elevator to deck 17, and then you have to climb the stairs to deck 18. As usual it was empty, so I had the entire upper outside deck to myself and the stars overhead. It was so quiet up there and so black. I thought of how it must have been in the old days on the wooden sailing vessels as they crossed the Atlantic. Those were brave men and women. It was so incredibly peaceful and quiet out there in the middle of the sea.
I remember years ago when I had the opportunity to be given a “past life regression” session, (for what that is worth), and remember the guide asking me to go back to my happiest memory or life. I can picture clearly the images that popped up in my head. I was on an ancient Minoan sailing vessel, in the prow, the spray from the salt water of Homer’s “wine dark sea” sprinkling my face. It was that that I thought of last night. I felt very much at home in the middle of the water. I don’t know where I will end up at the end of my contract, but I could be very happy sailing the seas like this. It just confuses me that more crew don’t take advantage of that open-air deck.
I am almost through my first month, and the days seem to be going by faster. That must be a good sign. Hopefully soon I will be able to get off the ship and do some sight-seeing too.
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