'Karaoke With Kenny'—A West Hollywood Institution

Most karaoke nights across the country are probably full of Adam Lambert wannabes singing drunken renditions of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” But thanks to “Karaoke Kenny” in West Hollywood, those renditions are occasionally done by the real Adam Lambert.

For 21 years, Kenny Morse has facilitated karaoke crooning through “Karaoke With Kenny,” West Hollywood’s “longest running club night.”

A New York City native, Morse grew up singing and was even featured in the national tour of “Grease,” but his life as a karaoke host started in 1990 at The Revolver, a bar where now stands.

“There was a lesbian who was hosting an unsuccessful karaoke show at Revolver, and the manager thought I might like to do it,” Morse said of the night that started it all.

Along with taking over the hosting duties, Morse also took it upon himself to make some format changes, like adding an hour of “Mini Concerts” before the open mic karaoke.

He also implemented some “ahead-of-their-time” club policies that proved attractive to West Hollywood patrons.

“I was the first club night to start [a no-smoking policy], pre-dating the law against it,” Morse said.  “It was so successful, that we had to expand to three nights of karaoke at Revolver."

The Revolver closed in 2005, but Morse found not only a new home for his show, he found multiple homes.

“In 2008, I was doing Tuesdays at East West, Wednesdays at , and Sunday at ,” said Morse, who has also hosted recurring nights at MJ’s, , , , and Las Vegas’ Krave.

Over the years, “Karaoke With Kenny” grew in notoriety not only among the West Hollywood nightlife crowd, but among Hollywood’s singing community as well.

“It was the first [West Hollywood] karaoke show that attracted great singers, working actors and wannabe recording artists, many of whom went on to great things, including Adam Lambert,” said Morse.

Other "Idol" contestants have also taken to Morse’s stage. As have pop stars Tiffany, Anastasia, Thelma Houston, and Blu Cantrell.

Even TV personalities not known for their singing skills have picked up the mic at a “Karaoke With Kenny” night.

“Last year, someone came up to me and asked me if I would mind if Vienna [from "The Bachelor"] sings.” Morse explains.  “I said, "Vienna from 'The Bachelor?’ Yep. She gets up and sings ‘Hit The Road Jake.’"

With so many people clamoring to get on his stage, Morse does his best to fit as many people in, but he advises singers arrive early to get on the list.

“It would be rare that I have less than an hour wait to sing, and usually it is more,” Morse said. “We average 50 singers in a night.”

Of those 50 singers, not all of them are usually performance ready, especially after a few drinks. But Morse does not mind the drunkards as long as they stay composed, he said.

“[Drunk people] harass me that they should be moved to the front of the line because, ‘I am so much better than these people,’’ Morse said. “It's never true.”

When he is not juggling his long list of performers, Morse takes on many other “hats.” He serves as “Mr. Traffic” on Sirius/XM Radio, stands in for reality show judges like Steven Tyler at "American Idol" rehearsals, and acts as a priest on the soap opera "General Hospital."

But every Wednesday night at Fiesta Cantina, most patrons just know him as “Karaoke Kenny.”

“I am in the job of not just entertaining my guests, but to make them happy, they came to my show,” Morse said. “There are a lot of other places they could go and spend their hard-earned money. I make sure everyone knows how grateful I am they came to ‘Karaoke With Kenny.’”