‘Pubstar’: Inside the new show discovering Britain’s best karaoke talents

It’s a cold Friday evening and over at the King’s Head in Finsbury Park, a middle-aged lady called Jenny is belting a genuinely impressive rendition of Billie Holliday’s sultry classic ‘That Ole Devil Called Love’. Later that same evening, after beating both an Elvis impersonator and an older gentleman called Tom who delivered a unexpectedly energetic run of Flo Rida’s ‘Low’, Jenny will deservedly win a trophy for her efforts.

This is the world of Pubstar, the new YouTube series which shines a light on Britain’s enduring love of karaoke and the unique experience of belting out a classic after, in many cases, one too many jars. As the show’s YouTube description aptly puts of the people they’re trying to find: “Not Simon Cowell industry plants but people who might secretly be brilliant.”

Though the competitors are the real stars of the show, a huge part of the appeal is that the show’s production feels like a throwback to the scrappy charm of similar boozer-facing shows you’d be likely to see on Bravo TV in the noughties. It is all oddly comforting.

“I’m such a fan of old TV shows from the 2000s and 2010s where everything felt a lot more tongue-in-cheek and a lot more fun, and it felt like we were lacking that in everything we see today,” explains the show’s host Paulina Kehlet, who also produces it alongside her partner John Montoya. “We also watch a lot of old music reality shows from 20 years ago where things were done in a much more interesting way, before it became caricatured.”

“But we’ve also tried to make something that caters to our own tastes and it feels like a really great YouTube show,” adds Montoya.

If music reality shows are the reference point, the show aptly boasts its very own Simon Cowell equivalent in the form of Jimmy Mcintosh, the charismatic and sharply dressed familiar face of popular boozer series Dead Pubs. “It doesn’t really matter if you’re a good singer. It’s about the energy and the vibe,” he says.

At its heart too, the show is a celebration of the release that comes from simply belting out a tune.

‘There’s something about karaoke where it’s like something about like watching someone else like, like losing yourself in someone else losing themselves like performing and I think like that, that doesn’t discriminate and it will like that will never change, like that’s just always at the core of it, no matter where it is in time, and it’s fun in a way that doesn’t need too much explanation,” adds Kehlet.

“And as well, there’s always an amazing payoff when somebody is unexpectedly good. You don’t necessarily know exactly what you’re gonna get when you turn up for karaoke, but usually you come away with quite a few strong memories.”

For the second episode, which is out today, they will move to Liverpool’s Coopers Town House, a tiny boozer which has developed a TikTok following for streaming raucous karaoke sessions seven days a week.

“The pub’s operators call it the tiniest pub with the biggest heart,” says Montoya. “In terms of square meters it’s a very small pub, but there’s a lot of energy inside there and it’s an incredibly special place.”

And, the pair agree, there’s every possibility that a belting karaoke performance could give the show its very own A Star Is Born moment.

“I honestly think one of the core reasons that we even had the idea to make this is because we’d go to the pub every like Friday or Saturday and then watch people perform and be like, wow, they are so unbelievably talented and they’re just hidden away in this tiny little pub in North London and absolutely singing their heart out. There could be a superstar out there. Why not?”