Saturday, January 22, 2011

Karaoke Secret Santa remembers... Armand Barbone (1982 - 2011)



Armand Barbone loved karaoke and was gracious enough to participate in the first two years of Karaoke Secret Santa, turning in two wonderful video treats. In 2009, he did "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World for his secret santa by performing in his pajamas while using Rock Band as his background music. In 2010, he found a video online of "Dominic, The Italian Christmas Donkey" and sang along to it. 

On January 15, 2011, Armand died suddenly. A playlist has been created to celebrate his life by remembering one of his passions: singing. It features his two Karaoke Secret Santa videos and a video made by Joseph Restubog after his death, on the night McGillin's dedicated their karaoke night to Armand. 

Rest in peace, Armand Barbone. (August 16, 1982 - January 15, 2011)




UPDATE: Here is a tribute I wrote for him on my other blog.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Thanks to all who participated in the 2010 Karaoke Secret Santa!

Hi, singers!
Thank you to everyone who made this year’s Karaoke Secret Santa a wonderful experience! Ten talented Secret Santas worked hard and delivered some awesomely creative videos. We will be featuring each video on this blog for you to enjoy and share with all your friends. In the meantime, check out the official playlist at:  http://www.youtube.com/user/KaraokeSecret 
Unfortunately, there have been four recipients who missed out due to their Secret Santa not delivering a video. We have contacted each of them and have gotten one solid response that a video was made, but we have not been able to confirm anything from the others since the beginning of January. We apologize to those who did not receive one. We are working on something special for you guys!
We're very sorry that this has occurred, and hope that it won't put anybody off participating in the 2011 Gift Exchange. Pam will be working on a survey for you guys so we can work on making the Karaoke Secret Santa process better. Next year, we want to ensure that everybody who signs up participates and receives a video.
Thanks again to all who have participated! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Sincerely,
Joe R.
Creator/Administrator
With Help By:
Pam
Assistant Administrator