Published in The Las Vegas Weekly issue December 10-16, 2009

That pretty much says it all

Brando’s Bar and Grill looks just like any other locals’ sports bar: small, darkly lit, with a film of cigarette smoke in the air. A full bar surrounds a dozen TVs showing the nightly games, but on one night last week no one watched the games. Everyone watched the porn stars.

Karaoke XXX launched December 1 with a bang at the Industrial Road bar. Porn veteran Sunset Thomas, an 11-year Vegas resident, hosted the event, and at least a half-dozen other porn performers showed up to get their tune on. Along with the porn folks, the bar was chock-full of patrons waiting to see the adult stars rip off their clothes and sing and dance.

Unfortunately, no clothes were ripped off, although a few boobies did make accidental appearances—it’s bound to happen when a girl’s breasts are bigger than the material she’s wearing to cover them. But the girls had the crowd jiving with their vocal skills.

Karaoke XXX is a throwback to a popular Porn Star Karaoke event in Burbank, California, at a place called Sardo’s Grill and Lounge. “It’s just a coinkydink that Sardo’s and Brando’s sound so much alike,” says Rebecca Love, porn actress and organizer of Karaoke XXX. “I had wanted to start this event in Vegas for a while now, and when I told Anthony (Brando, co-owner of the bar) about it, he was all for it.”

Because Tuesday was the first Karaoke XXX, Love and Brando’s expectations weren’t the highest, but they couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I come in here a lot, and I have never seen it this packed,” says Melissa Brunelle, 22, who stood behind a partition watching the porn stars sing and gyrate to the music. “I thought this was going to be wanna-be porn stars, not real porn stars—I mean, not that I recognize any of them—but that’s pretty cool. I’ll definitely be back.”

Thomas, a lucky fan and the karaoke DJ opened with The Eagles’ “Hotel California.” Thomas started the song off with, “Ohh, I like this threesome!” Claudia Marie, another adult performer, belted out Blondie’s “One Way Or Another” and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” And damn, that girl can sing! Some patrons might not have noticed her voice, as her breasts had to be the biggest—and they looked to be real—most of us had ever seen. But she’s had some practice belting out those lines.

Following her were adult performers Selena Swallows and Ziggy Star, who sang The Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself,” and Jenny Hendrix and Natalie Norton, who sang Toni Basil’s “Hey Mickey.” The choice of music had the crowd singing along and dancing in their seats. The patrons were loving it and the organizers were giddy.

“This is so much better than I expected,” Love says. “Hopefully it will just snowball from here.”

Most of the girls were not household porn names, but if this event becomes anything like the one in Burbank, the stars are sure to come. Burbank’s Porn Star Karaoke has been thriving with appearances from big names like Ron Jeremy, Tera Patrick and Ginger Lynn, along with famous celebrities and musicians. “It was so much fun at Porno Karaoke,” says Thomas, who has attended the Sardo’s event many times. “I will definitely be here whenever I can be—hanging out and singing some songs.”

The night is about more than just karaoke, Love explains. She hopes the event will bring stars together with their fans in an environment that is relaxed and more true-to-life, and it brings the industry together to network and find future work.

But at the end of the night, it’s karaoke. And just like regular karaoke, not all the stars can sing. Jack Spade, another adult performer, says it best: “Hey if the porn star sucks, at least you have something entertaining to look at … Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of words.”

I think that sums it up quite perfectly.