Finnish town cracks karaoke world record

A club in Finland has set the world record for the longest karaoke session at 216 hours, with participants vowing to keep going.

"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," Arto Nikunen, the president of the Kouvola Karaoke Club, said just after the singing marathon hit 216 hours on Friday.

The previous record of 214 hours was held by a club in China.

However, the Finns are determined to keep their record. Last year, they duelled with their Chinese nemeses — with the Finnish club holding the record for only six days before it was broken by the Chinese.

The club in the town of Kouvola, 135 kilometres northeast of Helsinki, will be continuing its karaoke singing until July 27, hitting 600 hours.

Organizers have boosted the number of karaoke machines from two to six and are even prepared for power outages.

"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," said Nikunen.

Finland seems to have stranglehold on the activity — it will be hosting the annual Karaoke World Championships for the next three years, 2008 to 2010.