Japanese import 'karaoke' sweeps the southland.

Four-year-old Jeneida Hamar dances up and down on the stage at the Galleria at South Bay, while her father, Jeff Hamar, sings the former hit pop song "I Want To Dance With Somebody." Jeneida does a few twirls, bounces a couple of times and gives a big smile to the applauding crowd.

Jeneida and her dad are trying out for "Karaoke Showcase," a new show being produced by Agoura Hills-based Genesis Entertainment. The series will enable "ordinary people" to fulfill their dreams by being pop music stars, according to a company press release.

The show is based on an event called karaoke, which in Japanese literally means "empty orchestra." Karaoke is a sing-along craze that originated in Japan 20 years ago and started winding its way into the American culture during the mid-1980s. An estimated 200,000 Californians have participated in the act so far.

The word is correctly pronounced car-ah-oak-ay, but it can also be heard pronounced care-ee-oh-kee or even care-oh-kee.

During the karaoke act, technicians play prerecorded music to popular songs, minus the lead vocals, on a sophisticated set of stereo equipment. Each participant gets up in front of a group of people at a bar, restaurant, nightclub or even at home, and sings a chosen tune whose words are flashed on a screen. Sometimes there are video screens in the background showing either a video of the song or a picture of the amateur performer.

For a handful, TV fame awaits. Sixty-four performers from across the country will be flown to Florida during May for the filming of "Karaoke Showcase." The show will air in June, appearing locally on KCAL.

Whitney Houston's hit, "Greatest Love of All," the Righteous Bros.' "Unchained Melody" and Patsy Cline's "Crazy" were the most-chosen songs among tryouts for "Karaoke Showcase." Performers of all ages vied for spots on the show.

Karaoke has become a big business and is increasingly popular in the Southland. According to the Karaoke International Sing-Along Association, there are about 1,000 venues in the Southland that host karaoke events. Barwinkles in Long Beach and Crooners in West Los Angeles draws about 200 people each on a hot night. Also, The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach and Merlin Mc Flys often have lines out onto the street on karaoke nights.

Participation is usually free of charge or whatever the bar typically charges as a cover.

There are anywhere from several hundred to several thousand songs available to karaoke participants to choose from, depending upon which company is putting on the show. There are Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole tunes, Madonna songs and Michael Jackson songs. You can even sing to John Denver if you really want to, or the Bee Gees for that matter.

Some songs, though, just aren't in the karaoke library. Richard Julis wants to sing the Jewish folk song "Hava Nagila" to the crowd at Merlin Mc Fly's, but he would have to sing acappella because the background music to "Hava Nagila" isn't in the library of Off n' Running, the Manhattan Beach-based company putting on the show.

But Julis makes up for it by saying "Oi vey, thank you" after singing "South of the Border," Frank Sinatra's golden oldie.

"Karaoke gives anyone a chance that normally wouldn't have a chance to get up and sing for people," explains Kim Hall, a woman dressed in cowboy attire in the line to try out for "Karaoke Showcase."

"My family members used to tell me to shut up when I sang." Karaoke "was a challenge," adds actor Howie Eu, who has come to Merlin Mc Fly's to sing.

But some do karaoke for money. The Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens recently staged a contest over two months, with weekly winners getting $100 plus a free dinner, a certificate for the casino's gift shop -- and a shot at performing in the finals before 350 guests for a $500 purse.

"Everyone that made it to the final night could have been on 'Star Search,'" observes Doug Galloway, the club's director of food and beverage.

But Julis says he doesn't enjoy the competitiveness of the contests as much as the camaraderie generated by people singing for the sheer enjoyment of it.

There are even karaoke groupies. The groupies are "like gypsies on Broadway dancing from one show to another. The group goes from one club to another," Julis says, pointing to a table at Merlin Mc Fly's where a cluster of karaoke groupies is gathered.

Karaoke activity goes on in 95 percent of bars and restaurants in Japan, and karaoke equipment is found in 80 percent of all Japanese homes, according to Neal Friedman of the Karaoke International Sing-Along Association, based in Simi Valley. The association is made up of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, consultants, marketers and promoters of the karaoke business and has about 30 members in the Southland.

About eight years ago, a number of Japanese companies in the karaoke business joined with some American companies to market the concept in the United States, Friedman says. But it didn't start catching on until about three years ago. Now, it's increasingly popular, with $330 million of home-oriented karaoke equipment sold in the U.S. last year.

The Karaoke International Sing-Along Association was formed in 1991 to further the concept of karaoke in the United States, Friedman says.

Karaoke music is played using several different modes. These include compact disc plus graphics, which is compact disc sound accompanied by colorized still graphics on a screen, and laser disc video, which is music accompanied by actual videos. Other modes include audio cassettes and VHS (traditional video cassettes.)

A sophisticated karaoke setup can cost as much as $20,000, Friedman says, while the cost to hire equipment and staff for a one-time karaoke party in the home costs between $200 and $500.

The Southland karaoke business is becoming fiercely competitive, with major corporations and independent karaoke companies vying for the business of local bars and restaurants. Less than 10 percent of clubs actually own their own equipment and have staff to man it.

Off n' Running provides karaoke services to more than a dozen venues in Southern California. The company charges $350 a night, providing the necessary equipment, two masters of ceremonies and an audio engineer to run the show.

But that's the business side. Meanwhile, karaoke performers sing on. Jerry Rusinyak, who tried out for "Karaoke Showcase," sums it up: "I love singing."