Swedish Karoke

As an American, I view Karaoke as a cheesy outing that "nerdy" people love. I find Karaoke embarrassing and out of date. This is not the case to Swedes and the Finnish. From what I have observed on many occasions, Young and old Swedes and Finnish people really enjoy this activity. When I say enjoy, I really mean they take Karaoke seriously and not as a joke. WOOPS! Quickly I realized that I was acting as if it was all a joke, which I am sure would be viewed as rude and arrogant. Quickly I had to change my attitude and take the person singing seriously. I was somewhat shocked to see older men going up and singing their hearts out. At first my first reaction was to start laughing and thinking "this guy is crazy!" but then I had to stop myself once I saw everyone else around me sitting quietly giving him their undivided attention. Karaoke is NOT a joke and a way to act silly in front of a bunch of strangers. This first discovery of Karaoke was on the Viking boat to Finland. My next encounter with Karaoke was with a bunch of my friends and some Swedes we met a few nights previously. They had invited my friends and I to a Karaoke bar. I figured it was going to be a large open bar with one stage and people waiting their turn for the spotlight. This assumption was 100% wrong.
As soon as we arrived to the bar we had to have a reservation to get in. I was really confused to why we needed a reservation to watch people sing in an open bar... Later I talked to the bouncer and persuaded him to let us in. He said "you can go to the open bar but you can not have your own room. Go to the front desk and they will show you where to go". Wow. What does he mean by reserving our OWN room?
Soo confused I headed down the stairs to the underground Karaoke bar. I immediately thought I was in a brothel by the layout. I was somewhat frightened for what I had gotten myself into. Thinking to myself, "Why are there so many different small rooms? people actually rent rooms to sing Karaoke with their friends? Why are there old men walking out of the rooms?" I could not understand what this place was! Yet, I did not let my fear get the best of me. I realized this was an opportunity to experience another culture and it really wasn't soo bad. Was it weird? Yeah! But now I have a story to tell to people that if they every go to a Karaoke bar in Sweden, remind yourself IT IS NOT A BROTHEL! The Swedes just like to have a good time with their friends and their friends only. And if you are sharing one common room with Swedes, be prepared to fight for the microphone.