Dropping the mic: Kiriyama retiring as karaoke emcee

Longtime karaoke emcee George Kiriyama says he is putting his microphone away after this year — and two fellow stars of AAJA’s convention gala have also made noises about following him off stage.

All the retirement ruminations from Kiriyama,  CNET’s Brian Tong (“Asian Usher”) and Chris Casquejo (“Asian Prince”) have AAJA members from across the country concerned that this might be the year when the tremendous trio actually calls it quits.

“AAJA karaoke will always be around. It will just have different faces,” said Kiriyama, a reporter for NBC Bay Area who has emceed karaoke for six years.

Casquejo, a Michigan-based reporter for First Business News, has probably retired more times than NFL star quarterback Brett Favre and NBA legend Michael Jordan combined. But every year after the gala, something changes at 10:55 p.m. when the crowd cheers for Asian Prince to hit the stage during karaoke night.

“They’re kind of the heart of it,” said Cheryl Tan of AAJA’s New York chapter. “We look forward to it every year.”

With this year being Asian Usher’s first retirement announcement, Leighton Ginn, a longtime photographer for karaoke night, said that he believes the rumor. If Ginn’s prediction is correct, this year’s crowd will be deprived of Asian Usher’s famous sequence of dance moves, which include rolling on the floor in a ripped shirt, dousing women with water and gyrating.

“Asian Usher really leaves his mark on people,” Ginn said.

The Prince reiterated to Voices this was his “real retirement.” He said what got him out of retirement at the Detroit convention in 2011 was when Kiriyama, a devoted Oakland Raiders fan, wore a Detroit Lions jersey to the event.

While the Prince may not pay much attention to critics, fans such as Tan seem to think part of his civic obligation is to do karaoke at least once a year.

“I kind of think that it’s his duty to step in,” Tan said. “I don’t want to say, ‘Be a man,’ but ‘Be an AAJA member.’”

With many longtime fans still clinging to the hope that Asian Prince, Asian Usher and Kiriyama will all be back this year, several Facebook groups have served as platforms to build anticipation. The two most popular groups are: “The annual return of Chris Casquejo to AAJA Karaoke” and “Getting George Kiriyama Hitched.”

Ginn created both pages as a medium for friendly banter and jokes. Asian Prince has since branded the hashtag #kirimamaforkeeps, which he hopes to see trending by Saturday.

Kiriyama said that AAJA karaoke was around before the Big Three and it will still exist when they are gone.

“I don’t see karaoke being diminished or falling apart,” Kiriyama said. “If you see the same faces over and over, it gets kind of stale.”

Still, Jennifer Samp, a reporter with CBS-7, was nostalgic when reflecting on Kiriyama’s influence as an emcee.

“You go to New York, you see the Empire State Building. You go to New York, you see the Statue of Liberty. You go to a convention, you see George emceeing karaoke,” she said.