Fancy karaoke in Helsinki

Let me introduce you to some of the "fancier" karaoke places... where you can not only sing but also dress up and drink in style... :-P

I am not a fan of "fancy-shmancy" places, where a drink costs more then my monthly electricity bill and my wardrobe screams "Undredressed!" before I even entered... But I did visit in the past year couple of the posh karaoke places in Helsinki and one of them actually climbed up to my top 3. 

So, if you like to dress up real nice and mingle with rich people, you should definitely visit these places.

Wallis karaoke bar (source of the pic)

Wallis karaoke bar

address: Kanavaranta 7 E 22 (close to Uspenski Cathedral)

webpage: at npg.fi

list of songs: at www.karaokelistat.fi

One of my favorites, mainly thanks to two of my dear friends, who brought me there and who enjoy this place a lot.
It is co-owned by Kimi Räikkönen, who is said to be a karaoke fan. And as I understood, he was also involved in the interior design.. and it definitely looks different and fancy.

With its high ceilings it feels airy and spacious. It is cleverly divided into different corners, so customers can also enjoy some kind of privacy. The stage is well positioned and thanks to monitors being everywhere, you can be either up there or anywhere around the bar...
 regarding customers, it is more of a high-class place, so if you visit it during rush hours, you will meet all sorts of people, you might not meet in a regular bar or a karaoke bar. But you know what, after couple drinks people behave exactly the same, no matter the income or wardrobe they own.

My favorite thing about this bar is not the audience (that makes me kindda uncomfortable to be honest) but the staff, who is very friendly and a list of songs, which is pretty good. I also love the view outside the bar... it is located right next to the sea, close to the Uspenski Cathedral.
And of course, I go there to see my friends. 

Ihku karaoke night club

IHKU bar (source of the pic)

address: Antinkatu 1, Helsinki (right at the Kamppi)

webpage: www.ihkubar.fi

list of songs: karaokebiisit

Just by reading the title "night club" you realize that this place tries to stand out and it truly is different then any other places I have sung at so far.

It took me by surprise, how nervous I was, while singing in there. My hands were actually trembling so much that I had to keep microphone in both of them, to keep it straight. That happened to me just once - the first time I actually sang karaoke at Cafe Ursula (one and a half year ago). If you wanna read about it, see my article Cafe Ursula Helsinki.

This place simply has no cosiness of a small bar such as Anna K or Restroom, or that friendly professionalism of  Karaokekellari. It feels more like a night club then a karaoke bar. 

The stage is quite big, but somehow detached from the spectators, pushed aside to the corner, and I had tendencies to move down closer to my friends table... which felt a bit weird, as I was not using the full potential of the place.

The process of applying for a song is different than anywhere else I have been. You get to choose your song from a list (online or on the paper) but than you have to go to the karaoke host seated next to the stage and ask him to out it in for you. First I was intrigued but quickly I got annoyed with the system. It feels like a really unnecessary extra work for the poor host and there is too much space for error.

The list is good. Filled with nice Finnish, English, Swedish, and also some French, Spanish and Portuguese songs.

Fun fact - you can hear the singers also at the toilets (thanks to the speakers planted in there :) ).

Even though my first experience with this karaoke place was kind of ambivalent, I am definitely gonna take there some of my girlfriends, who are not so much into karaoke singing and still want to hang out with me. They have a cheap and quite good sparkling wine there (2euro per glass) and the place really feels like a night club. Also the location right at the Kamppi is very pleasing.

Note from April 2019:
IHKU surprisingly won over Wallis in time... After couple more visits I can say that the staff is friendly and professional, and karaoke hosts are doing great job sound wise. Even though the system of applying for songs is still annoying, the fact that the host is there from the beginning till the end and controls the sounds, is awesome.
Sometimes karaoke bar owners make bartenders take care of the karaoke machine for the first couple hours, before the hosts come for the rush hours...and you can tell the difference.

Still my number one favorite is Kaivopihan karaokekellari. And you can read an extended review/praise on this place in my article Kaivopihan karaokekellari.