CLUB REVIEW : Dimples: Your Chance to Be Karaoke Star

If kitsch had a heaven, it would look and sound something like Dimples.

Highlights of the 10-year-old karaoke bar in Burbank, which claims to be the first of its kind in the Southland, include a wall of stained-glass windows emblazoned with the emblems of neighboring film studios, and two giant video screens that reflect the center-stage talent--or lack thereof.

But at Dimples (named after the Shirley Temple movie), everybody is a star. The bartenders, the hostesses and a bevy of regulars sing their favorite songs with the aid of a high-tech karaoke machine. Three strategically placed television monitors allow guests to sing along to the music, which they select from a catalogue that includes pop songs from “A Taste of Honey” to the Zombies.

The Dimples regulars, however, are primarily Beatles and Elvis fans, as Fab Four and the King wanna-bes dominate the night.

Although some hopefuls elicit occasional howls from the audience, the karaoke machine used at Dimples features echo and reverb effects that help mask some of the vocalists’ shortcomings.

Lore has it that one singer--no one at the bar knows who exactly--was signed to a record deal out of Dimples, so this is probably as good a place as any to test your mettle. And you don’t have to pay to play: Turns at the karaoke machine are always free.