Finns sing their way into the record books

Beating the previous world record for continuous karaoke singing, the Kouvola Karaoke Club of Finland recently passed the watershed of 216 hours. A similar karaoke club in China held the previous record of 214 hours.

Kouvola Karaoke Club president Arto Nikunun told reporters that “the official from the Guinness Book of World Records has given us a certificate and the record is now held by Kouvola Karaoke Club and Finland.”

But the Finns aren’t finished yet. The members of the singing club have vowed to carry on nonstop over the next few weeks in a bid to establish a world record that will be very difficult to beat.

The small Finnish town of Kouvola has a long history of battling head to head with their rivals in China, the previous record holders. The two sides have repeatedly traded top position, with Kouvola holding the record for a six days last August.

Kouvola’s goal is to sing karaoke for 600 hours non-stop. To help them reach this milestone Nikunen’s club has six karaoke machines at the ready with backup power just in case there’s a power cut.

“We want to hold the record for longer than six days like we did last year. We want to make a hefty record, so it would be difficult to break it,” stated Nikunen. If all goes as planned, the club will reach 600 hours on 27 July 2008.