Movember Challenge Karaoke Toronto

Some of our MoChaKaTO friends

For the 3rd year running, the Loser Karaoke family got together to raise funds for Movember Canada with an event we've dubbed MoChaKaTO - Movember Challenge Karaoke Toronto. Spearheaded by our team, The Mustache Farmers of Canada, we made every effort to make this event a success. Movember is a cause that means a great deal to us - we were determined to raise as much as we could to fund men's health initiatives not only for prostate cancer, but men's mental health programs. We spread the word via social media, generated prize donations, and built the excitement up all throughout November until our main event, Thursday, November 29th.

Loser Karaoke is a weekly Toronto karaoke night (currently at Lou Dawg's Southern BBQ on King St.), that originated from a hashtag on Twitter #LoserKaraoke - it's proven to be a great place to sing and mingle in real life (IRL) with friends I interact with on Twitter. At our best, we can come together on something like #MoChaKaTO and make something special happen.

Money was raised one of two ways:

1) Challenge Karaoke - singers and patrons donations drive the entertainment.

• For $5, you get your name in the rotation to be able to sing
• For $20, you can challenge someone else when they get up to sing, and make them sing whatever you want
• For $30, you can buy yourself out if you get challenged (just in case the challenge is too horrific for you, or you're a big chicken!)
• For $50, you can sing a song off the host's list of banned songs
• For $100, you can sing a song by Celine Dion, the most banned of our artists

2) Prize Raffle - we had an outstanding collection of prizes, from gift certificates to restaurants like Lou Dawg's, to box seats to a  Toronto Marlies hockey game, and a number of certificates for services at Mazz Salon.

If you checked in on the #MoChaKaTO hashtag that night, you'd see pictures of us all singing, dancing, and having an outstanding night. I'm happy to report everyone was game for the challenges and we had a laugh with some of them - that was the only way I would've sang "Gangnam Style", and my apology again to the people of South Korea - and some we just wanted to hear songs we love performed by our friends. 


By the end of the night, we raised $1680 for Movember Canada in one night - a new record, surpassing our goal of $1500. At $564 more than was raised in 2011, we're geared up to make it bigger and better next year.

Facebook Page for MoChaKaTO

More photos from the night: MoChaKaTO photos on Instagram (via statigram)

Thanks again to our Loser Karaoke host, Jason Rolland, and our Movember team:

The Mustache Farmers of Canada

Andrew Boyle, Jay Chan, Joshua Murray, Sean Bolton, Jessica Law

Our team: (L to R) Sean, Me, Jay, Jessica, Joshua (not pictured: Andrew) with our Loser Karaoke host, Jason Rolland