{"id":43818,"date":"2025-11-12T15:30:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/43818\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:30:13","slug":"tampacrat-karaoke-the-fun-side-of-tampa-city-council-you-didnt-know-existed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/43818\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tampacrat’ karaoke \u2014 the fun side of Tampa City Council you didn’t know existed"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you\u2019ve been sleeping for the past several weeks, you\u2019re well aware that the federal government is, at present, shut down. You probably also know that, for weeks on end, Republicans and Democrats have been playing the finger-pointing game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with a deal now reached<\/a> to reopen the government, the blame game continues, and even people within their own party are publicly annoyed with one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The headlines are enough to make even the most devoted of political watchers want to swear off social media and ignore the news. Who wants all that nastiness just a couple of weeks before the day of the year when we\u2019re all supposed to be the most thankful?<\/p>\n

But rest assured, the game of politics is not always a dirty one, and two Tampa City Council members have ensured that at least once a year, fun can be had by all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Enter Tampa City Council Karaoke Smack Down Battle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Tampa City Council members Luis Viera and Guido Maniscalco started the tradition in 2022, taking their best singing voices (Viera admits his is more like a croon) to the Babe Zaharias Club House for an evening of bad-singing catchy tunes in front of complete strangers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPublicly, I can be very passionate, but I\u2019m a clown and so is Guido,\u201d Viera said of the idea\u2019s inception.<\/p>\n

Council member Charlie Miranda joined the performance in 2023. By the time this year rolled around \u2014 the Smack Down Battle was August 1 \u2014 every sitting member of City Council participated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Viera describes it, Council member Lynn Hurtak stole the show with her rendition of Fleetwood Mac\u2019s \u201cDreams.\u201d Anyone acquainted with Stevie Nicks\u2019 raspy, sultry voice knows that\u2019s a bold choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLynn actually blew us all away,\u201d he said, adding that he \u201cloves music but can\u2019t sing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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City Council member Alan Clendenin this year performed a heartwarming, though not particularly in tune rendition of Dwayne Johnson\u2019s \u201cYou\u2019re Welcome,\u201d one of many hit songs from the Disney movie Moana. The heartwarming part: It was for his granddaughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Viera\u2019s favorite songs to belt into the microphone are Rick Springfield\u2019s \u201cJesse\u2019s Girl\u201d and the Kiss hit \u201cRock and Roll All Night.\u201d Video evidence of Viera singing \u201cJesse\u2019s Girl\u201d confirms that Viera indeed cannot sing very well. Nevertheless, he hopes to one day work up the nerve to perform a favorite, The Wallflowers\u2019 \u201cOne Headlight.\u201d But there are logistical hurdles, Viera laments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got to be four minutes tops, and that one\u2019s over five minutes,\u201d he explained, agreeing that no one wants to sit through five minutes of amateur singing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intent was to sort of to lighten things up and show that we can have our differences up there, but we can still get along,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Viera has taken to calling the singing politicos the \u201cTampacrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s already looking forward to next year, when the singing Tampa City Council roadshow potentially gains a new member. Naya Young was recently elected<\/a> to serve as the City Council member for District 5, replacing the late Gwen Henderson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Naya got elected, I warned her she better be ready for karaoke,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If she joins, she\u2019ll add her name to another newly formed City Council tradition. At the conclusion of the karaoke battle, the group sings together what may seem an odd choice for a group of registered Democrats \u2014 Lee Greenwood\u2019s \u201cGod Bless the USA.\u201d While the message is in no way partisan \u2014 and is important to Viera \u2014 the song is best known for its use at myriad Republican rallies and events, and Greenwood himself performed it at the 2024 Republican National Convention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the point is to buck politics for at least a few moments. And the karaoke battles aren\u2019t the only way Viera and Maniscalco are doing that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pair, who also roped in Clendenin at one point, also use the semi-regular Council photoshoots to have a little fun.<\/p>\n

Viera and Maniscalco, once done smiling professionally for their official City Council headshots, had the photographer shoot a series of gag shots, which they\u2019ve used for the karaoke fliers. In 2023, the shots were, in part, inspired by the Outkast album cover for Stankonia. This year, the duo included the famous hand clasp between Carl Weathers and Arnold Schwartzenager in the 1987 film The Predator. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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