A Night Burned Out to Pure White Ash [chocoZAP & Karaoke Diary 2025/09/30]
I attend chocoZAP using shareholder benefits. To maintain motivation, I keep a record of my muscle training and my karaoke battle scores (JOYSOUND National Scoring Grand Prix; a total of 1000 points max for the BEST 10).
Today's Exercise Record
Shoulder Press 35kg 45 reps
Chest Press 55kg 60 reps
Lat Pulldown 70kg 30 reps
Dips 75kg 60 reps
Leg Press 80kg 60 reps
Ab Bench 100 reps
Impressions & Diary
Since I'm concerned about my weight due to shareholder benefits, I worked out thoroughly in the morning when I had time. Karaoke was a two-part session, morning and night.
Today's National Scoring Grand Prix
960.212 points (+2.268 points)
Ranked 3,149th out of 42,666 nationwide
The Decisive Battle Begins
Finally, the end of September. Today was a triple final day: using shareholder benefits, applying for hometown tax donations, and the JOYSOUND National Scoring Grand Prix—it was an extremely busy day (what about work?).
For karaoke, I aimed for over 960 points after my pre-work muscle training, but I only managed to increase my score by about 0.2 points.
But I had already factored in that my voice wouldn't be ready in the morning. I'll bet everything on the night session.
To ensure I could sing to my heart's content, for my final McDonald's benefit burger, I chose my favorite, the "Double Teriyaki Chicken Filet," as my pre-battle meal.
What about the Triple Beef, you ask? ...Well, I don't really like beef patties to begin with (stern look).
Then why did you buy McDonald's stock...
With that, I finished all my other quotas and headed to chocoZAP for the decisive battle.
First up was DEEN's "Eien wo Azukete Kure", which I realized was way off-pitch after listening to it again on the official YouTube channel.
In my own perception, I was raising the pitch where I should have been lowering it, and I was always shocked to be penalized for it. Just fixing this should improve my score.
That said, once you reach the 95-point level, other minor mistakes become fatal. Even if the pitch is corrected somewhat, it doesn't mean the score will jump significantly. For now, I managed to update it by 0.077 points, but I'm still 1.846 points away.
Since singing only DEEN is hard on the throat, the strategy moved to the second phase. I'll attack the lower-ranked songs in my BEST 10 that I couldn't update yesterday.
First is Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue wo Muite Arukou". I hadn't sung this much this month, so after singing it twice to get used to it, I broke 95 points.
Since our voices are naturally a good match, it's no surprise that I can sing 'Ku-sama's' songs comfortably.
Then, I took on 'Eien wo Azukete Kure' again, a song I felt I had almost grasped on the first try, and made incremental improvements.
I've been slowly raising the score, but at this point, I'm still more than 1 point short. With only two songs left, I have no choice but to sing that one.
I'll take my chances with my starting song, 'Saudade'.
Yes,it's Porno Graffitti's 'Saudade', the song that led me to step into the path of karaoke (a bit dramatic, I know).This month, I only managed a 94.284, far from my personal best.
I've already been turned away twice today. Whether my vocal quality has changed or I've become too conscious of the pitch, I haven't been able to break through the 95-point wall lately.
I'll go back to basics, stop worrying about the pitch, and just sing with all my soul.
And then it happened!
Over 95 points & over 960 points!
I couldn't help but pump my fist! And since I feel like I've grasped something, I'll sing 'Saudade' one last time.
I sang with so much intensity I thought a blood vessel might burst.
I added another 0.049 points and finished in the 200s for the first time. My throat is raspy, and my vision is blurring.
I burned out... burned out completely white. Into white ash...
So, I ended the month on a high note, finally breaking 960 points and finishing with all songs in my BEST 10 scoring over 95 points.
For now, I can focus on the TOEIC next month with peace of mind.
Huh? Didn't I say that before?
I had absolutely no idea...
FIN.
Details of the National Karaoke Scoring Grand Prix are below