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Singing for a very large supper

A TECHNICIAN for an American telephone company has won the top prize of 1 million Russian dumplings in the Karaoke World Championships.

Edward Pimentel won the unusual prize early Sunday in Moscow after getting the most votes from audience members.

Organizers said the dumplings are enough to last 27 years if someone eats 100 of them a day.

A panel of judges chose two Finns as the male and female champions — Sam Moudden and Maria Saarimaa-Ylitalo. They were awarded karaoke machines. Moudden, sharply dressed in Rat Pack style, performed “Je Suis Malade” and the purple-gowned Saarimaa-Ylitalo sang Celine Dion’s “I Surrender.”

Two singers who stretched karaoke’s boundaries beyond the usual pop favorites placed second. Fedor Rytikov, a gastroenterologist by day, advanced to the finals with the “Nessum Dorma” aria from “Turandot,” then stayed with Italian music for the final with “L’Immensita.”

Russia’s Julia Kurileva was second with the most adventurous choice of the night — the wordless and eerie wailing of Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig In The Sky.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .