The New York Times-20080125-Hip-Hop Karaoke Championship

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Hip-Hop Karaoke Championship

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HIP-HOP KARAOKE CHAMPIONSHIP Live karaoke -- in which would-be Madonnas, Sinatras and Bon Jovis are backed by a real band instead of a recorded soundtrack or video -- has been a hit at downtown clubs for years now. In 2003 Jason Newman, Josh Dick and Zach Quillen -- friends and rap fans who live blocks apart in Queens -- decided to expand the concept to hip-hop. We'd be going to hip-hop shows, and you'd see an M.C. drop a classic song, and you look around the crowd and everyone knows every word, said Mr. Newman, who goes by the name Jay-New when he's not working in finance.

A few dozen enthusiasts came to their first show, in December 2004 on the Lower East Side. Since then regular monthly events, most recently at the Knitting Factory, have drawn hundreds. Rhymefest and Big Daddy Kane have dropped by, and the idea has spread to other cities including London and Toronto. The performers are not just faking it. You'll have costumes, you'll have props, you'll have choreography, Mr. Newman said of those in the diverse crowd. Mr. Dick -- a k a Diggedy -- is the host, and Mr. Quillen, as D.J. Wex, spins the tunes.

On Friday they are presenting the first-ever Hip-Hop Karaoke Championship, with 12 hand-picked competitors drawn from the crew of regulars. Among them are R D J, a Robert Downey Jr. look-alike and musical-theater graduate student originally from Vancouver; K-dot and Scooter, brothers; Chef, a D.J. from Flatbush, Brooklyn; and Elizabeth, above, a New Jersey real estate appraiser. They'll be judged on flow and swagger by hip-hop luminaries like the producer Prince Paul, the rap-video pioneer Ralph McDaniels and Dres of the Bronx group Black Sheep.

The song choices are secret, and Mr. Newman expects a serious throw down. People have told me that they think our performers do it better than some of the rappers, he said. A rapper can show up really late and maybe only go on for 15 minutes. But these people have been practicing for three months for their chance to do one song.

The winner gets $1,000 (contributed by sponsors) and a silver trophy in the shape of a microphone, which Diggedy picked up in Queens. (Friday at 10 p.m., Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, hiphopkaraokenyc.com; $12 at door.) MELENA RYZIK

[Illustration]PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY JON MAIER)