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Ontario duo wins Karaoke World Championships in Japan

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A Hamilton woman and her singing partner from Brampton have been crowned the 2019 Karaoke World Champions.

Kate Dion and Candace Miles recently returned from Tokyo, Japan where they captured the first-place prize in the competition’s duet category.

Surprisingly, it was the first time the women had competed together as a duet.

Dion’s karaoke singing career only began a few years ago when she started performing in bars around the city. Miles, on the other hand, is a trained opera singer who has been competing since the age of 13. When she turned 19 years old, she started attending bars and fell in love with the vocal freedom of karaoke.

Initially, the women started out as competitors, performing individually in karaoke competitions across the province.

After taking home several first-place wins as soloists, they decided to enter the national competition as a pair.

“We won first place for Canada at our national championship level back in the summer and that’s when Candace and I decided to become duet partners,” said Dion. The pair next set their sights on the global completion. “The rest was a lot of practice, rehearsals, costume making, and preparation,” she added.

Dion and Miles celebrated their big win with a room full of supporters at Tracie’s Place on Upper James St. Wednesday night. Dion works at the bar a few nights a week as a karaoke host.

In addition to the title of Karaoke World Duets Champions, the singers took home a piece of Japanese art, state of the art microphones, a set of kimonos, plaques, medals and a trophy.

Miles also competed as a soloist in this year’s competition, making her ineligible to take part in the 2020 world championships which are being held in Canada. Dion, however, is eligible and is looking forward to next year’s competition.